Halo: Outbreak
by Scattergunsniper
Summary: In the year 2552, a Punic Supercarrier, UNSC Hornet, carrying some of the last survivors of the Covenant glassing escapes Reach. Thanks to a random slipspace jump coordinates, they end up finding out ancient secrets...and a whole new branch of Humanity on a world never before seen by the UNSC. Will this planet hole the UNSC's Salvation...or its downfall?
1. Home is where the war is

**Chapter 1**  
 **Home is where the war is**

August 30, 2552, 25 km from Asźod shipbreaking yards. Asźod, Eposz, Reach

A pair of warthogs, one a M831 Troop Transport hog and the other a M12G1 Gauss Warthog. Both hog held the members of an elite ODST strike team that didn't feel very elite now. They were the 501st. This squad led by Commander Curtis Fletcher, of the UNSC Air Force, had been second only to Spartans in the many mission they had gone through. Many if not all of it members had been fighting the Covenant even before they could even join the UNSC when they invaded their homes. And now here they were, they were on Reach, humanity's fortress in the stars. On the doorstep of Earth itself. And it was burning.

The second in command, UNSC Navy Officer Lieutenant Allison Forge, in the passenger seat of the Gauss hog depolarized her helmet to look out at the burning hulk of her home world, Emerald eye stained with tears.

"Why? Why can't the fucking Covenant just leave us alone!?" She slammed her fist down of the Hog's dashboard, a sharp pain coursing through it from doing so. She ignored it as tears continued to flow "What did we ever do to them?"

A comforting hand fell on her left shoulder as Curtis looked at her, his blue eyes sharing a similar look out of his visor.

"They don't care, that's why. They don't want us beaten. They want us dead." He looked out at the valley below at the melted hulks or starships that couldn't escape the glassing beams. Some were slated for scrapping, but others still had people in them. "We failed here, at Reach, But never again. We _can't_ lose again."

"All we have left is Earth and the Sol System. Is that even enough?" The question had come over the COMMs from the Troop Hog. A man, a bit bulker than Curtis and the 501st's heavy weapons expert, UNSC Army Airborne Staff Sergeant David Hudson as he scanned the skies and back for any signs of enemy activity, M319 grenade launcher held firmly in hand.

Curtis looked out ahead of them and sighed "I don't know. Maybe? Angela, you know the UNSC's secrets. Anything that could help out?"

The person in question, Angela Rich, was driving the second hog. She was in fact a Major and a level 3 member of the Office of Naval Intelligence or ONI. She was the one who often acquired experimental or rare weaponry and equipment for the 501st and the ship they operated out of, the Halberd class destroyer UNSC _Poseidon's Trident_. She thought over every weapon and experiment she knew of. From the NOVA bombs to the still being built UNSC _Infinity_ of the Infinity class supercarriers…but could find no solution. No sign of victory. Survival, sure, but nothing to save Earth.

"No" He voice was monotone and quiet. "Several systems are in place to ensure humanity's survival but nothing to stop the total destruction of the Sol System and known UNSC space."

"So…...that is it then?" This voice come from the team's field medic, Master Sergeant Sandra Thompson. She sat in the passenger seat of the Troop hog. She was identifiable by the white shoulder pads with the red UNSC medical caduceus. Most people wouldn't think her suited for field deployment, let alone with a ODST fireteam with her shy personality and often cheery demeanor but, most people that knew here would simply tell you not to upset her.

Before they could respond, a sound filled the air. The dreaded up of repulsor lifts and Impulse engines. The trademarked sounds of Covenant Vehicles.

"4 o clock high! We got 3 banshees! They aren't the normal kind either!" Hudson shouted out as the Hog kicked into high gear to escape the diving alien fighters.

He was right in that they were not the normal banshees. Unlike the more commonly seen Type-26 and its variants, these were Type-27 Banshees. The space fighter variant with heavier plasma cannons and a more powerful Fuel rod launcher. A Normal Type 26 was a problem, but Type 27s?

"How strong is the shield on these things?" Ask the ODST manning the gauss turret of the forward hog, Sergeant Major Stacy Williams asked as she took aim.

"They can be taken down with a few 30mm rounds from a fighter or a lone direct rocket hit." Curtis answered her as he swerved as the lead banshee swooped down and actually side swiped the hog. They were toying with them.  
Stacy had a sadistic grin on her face as she laughed and too aim at the banshee that was now turning back to its flight. "Perfect."  
Her M68 Gauss cannon hummed to life and with a deafening crack and speared the front of the cockpit of the craft. Blue and purple flame erupted from the hole formed and a few second later the craft exploded violently in a shower of plasma and Nanolaminate hull plating. She was unable to celebrate her kill as the other two opened firs with their heavy plasma cannons aiming to melt her hog and her along with it. Hudson however managed to get a plan in action and once the Banshee's were low enough he fired a Grenade from his launcher at it. The grenade detonated and let out a EMP pulse that disabled the alien fighter causing it to crash into the ground into a large boulder on the side of the road destroying it. The last fighter rushed ahead of the warthogs and flow low to the ground charging them, it Plasma Cannons blazing away. Curtis looked over at Angela driving the Troop hog and they both nodded at one another in understanding. They Maneuvered the Hogs so there was space between the Banshee could fly through. Once it got close enough they swerved back in. The Sangheili Minor could only watch as two 5-ton Titanium missiles crashed into him. The Hogs were jostled around a bit but managed to stay on course with minor damage. The banshee, however, was destroyed.

Allison looked back at the wreckage "All hostiles neutralized"

"Ya, and I can see the _Trident_ form here." Curtis pointed ahead at what must have seemed, at least to anyone still trapped on reach like the 501st, to be the most beautiful thing in the universe. The UNSC _Poseidon's Trident_ DDG-052. The Old Halberd class Destroyer had been the home of the 501st for years now and it had yet to fail them. It was in this ship the 501st gained it notoriety, and now it was in this ship they were going to escape this living hell.

Other Marines, Army, Navy and Air force personnel were loading up the ship for final departure when the 501st rolled up to the slipway. The ODSTs dismounted the Hogs as they were no longer needed and rushed aboard with everyone else.

[On the Bridge of the UNSC Poseidon's Trident]

Captain Baird looked out the windows at the scene before him. Not 5 minutes ago a Spartan III had just allowed the UNSC _Pillar of Autumn_ to escape and now he had to do the same before the Second CCS that had just arrived in lieu of the one damaged by said Spartan III manning an Onager MAC finished the job and Glassed the damn shipyard. He Turned to a nearby holotank

"Solara, status?" The older man asked to seemingly thin air.

The Holotank flickered to life as the ship AI, Solara materialized her avatar on it. Her avatar was that of a woman in her early 20s with a slender figure. She had no clothes on per say but she followed the example of her fellow AIs like Cortana and Kalmiya, both created by Dr. Catherine Halsey, and was covered by patterns and scrolling symbols. She modeled her patterns after Cortana who she spent a lot of time with before she was called off elsewhere. Many on the crew often joked that they thought she was made form the brain of either a porn star or a very kinky Officer, due to her tendency to tease or flirt with crewmembers, the latter of which is still up in the air for debate. They also forgot that she has control of the ship and found themselves in either no gravity or extreme gravity.

"All hand accounted for and aboard, Captain." She looked down, her golden glow seemingly dimming for a moment "I am picking up several troops too far out trying to get to us. Even that Spartan who saved the _Autumn_."

Baird sighed, it wasn't easy. It was _NEVER_ easy leaving troops behind, but it had to be done.

"We have done…all we can. All we can do now is help those who still have hope elsewhere in this mad galaxy a chance for survival." He sat down in his command seat as his crew looked at him for orders, but he knew they really looked. They didn't want to hear they fact they had to leave those men and women behind. God, he hated the Covenant for doing this.

"I know what you all want me to say but you know I can't say it. I can't say, open the door and let them in. We are about t be glassed and you all know we are powerless just sitting here." Many faces looked down, saddened by the truth they all knew. "But mark my word, we will make the Covenant pay for Reach. We may not live to see it, but this war, one way or another will not be won by the Hinge heads. But for now, we can only run." He leaned back. "Helm, get us out. of here."

The Helmsman, a young man from Arcadia, nodded solemnly "Aye sir."

The 4 powerful and armoured fusion engines of the destroyer came to life as the ship was propelled into the air. Like the Frigate line, the _Trident_ could operate in atmosphere and it easily took to the skies. The 485-meter-long ship was approaching the bulking frame of a CCS class battlecruiser. The alien warship began to move to intercept the fleeing human vessel.

Baird laughed "And here I thought this Fleet of Particular Justice was good at innovating. Solara, hit the boosters now!"

The AI wasted no time in following that order as the _Trident's_ 4 secondary fusion engines roared to life launching the ship forwards and away form the CCS. The crew began to increase the Altitude to get away form this hell formerly known as Reach when in a large cloud ahead of them, lightning crackled across it like it was hitting something. Like off the shields of a Covenant ship and judging form the outline, a big one.

"Spin up the MAC guns and ready archers! I am NOT dying on this rock and neither are any of you!" Baird yelled as the hulking prow of a CAS assault carrier emerged form the clouds.  
The small destroyer was determined to add one last tally to its kill list and taking on a CAS was one hell of a kill. Her Thrust vectoring exhaust in combination with her stander thrusters allowed the _Trident_ to pull an Immelmann maneuver over the carrier and wind up over the vessel. The assault carriers Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lances lashed out at the annoying ship as it dogged the beamed and returned fire with it smaller MAC gun as it was too close to use the main gun. The ship boosted over the main body and over its stern. The _Trident_ easy turned around and hid near the engines of the ship to avoid the Carriers attempt to retaliate with plasma Torpedoes and fired its main guns into its rear.

[ _On the bridge of the CAS Enduring Annihilation_ ]  
On the bridge of the ship, a Sangheili Ultra who was the Shipmaster of this vessel looked out over a hologram which showed his current predicament. A Destroyer. A human Destroyer. A Lone Human Destroyers with no allies or even a fighter wing escort was attacking his ship and slowly but surly dropping the rear shields of the ship. Human MAC guns were known to be dangerous, but one used by such a small ship? Against his Assault Carrier?! The shipmaster, Isna 'Fulsamee, was positively furious. It wasn't enough he served alongside a family member who manned a lone pitiful destroyer but now he was being attacked by a lone HUMAN destroyer!?

"Can ANYTHING target that blasphemous vessel!?" Isna roared to his bridge officers.  
"A long Unggoy spoke up nervously "We have no weapons back there. Too small for pulse lasers to reach. Too close for torpedoes. We need fighters to reach them but all out fighter are go-"That was all the grunt major got out before he was run threw by the twin blue blades of Isna's energy sword.

"Someone get me that nearby battlecruiser and get it to remove these Nat from us before they break thr-"he stumbled as the ship shook "By the prophets what was that?"

A Sangheili Minor spoke up this time "the Human ship was broken though our rear shield and is now attempting to get our Reactor. All engines are non-operable thanks to their missiles."  
Isna was about to stab something when the comm officer spoke up. "Sir, the _Truth and Reconciliation_ has come to assist."

"Tell them to fire! Burn the humans who dare defy the Holy Covenant!"

[ _Back with the UNSC Poseidon's Trident_ ]

When the first shells hit the actual hull and not the ship's shields the Trident truly began to think they could take down this CAS alone. If they could do so, they could buy those who are still on the ground some time. However, Nanolaminate is still strong and the CAS was quite large, but one last blast from form the underslung MAC had ripped away the last bits in the way between the Halberd and the core. The 600-ton slugs of the Halberd were nothing compared to the 1500-ton slugs of a heavy cruiser or 3000-ton slug of a Orbital defence platform or super carrier, but it was still better off than the 300 ton slugs of a heavy corvette or a Refitted Phoenix class colony ship. The _Trident_ was about to fire when something knocked it off course. Instead of destroying the CAS it shot went wide and hit part of the Plasma rector shutting it down. The carrier began to all form the sky. The _Trident_ veers around, part of its nose melted from a Plasma Torpedo as the CCS from before had caught up with it. The ship turned and ran as the CCS doggedly chased it.

"Prepare to jump to slipspace!" Baird called out as the ship shook form additional Plasma torpedoes, its 2-meter-thick Titanium A battleplate holding for now.

"In **_atmosphere_**!? Captain that's never been done!" Both Solara and the helmsman looked back at him like he was mad.  
"It either that, or we all die her and now!"

Solara sighed a she was right and began to spin up the drive. The calculation was difficult but worked with Halsey and learned new tricks from her own AIs dammit! She wasn't about to just roll over for a run of the mill battlecruiser! A bright blue and black portal appeared in front of the _Trident_ as the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine ripped the universe a new one and opened a portal through several dimensions. The Destroyer shot forward hoping to enter the portal, but it stopped short and began to fall. The portal closed as the _Trident_ missed it completely. The _Truth and Reconciliation_ used its Plasma lance and it had cut the ship in half, separating it engines form it bow. The screams of the crew added on to those from the planet below as the _Trident_ fell back down to the hell that was Reach. The _Reconciliation_ didn't get to check if the crew was all dead as Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee had called all ship up to follow the lone escaping human cruiser. Little did the departing Battlecruiser know, Humanity is very stubborn, and they will soon wish they had in fact Glassed the wreckage before departing.

* * *

 **Hello! This is my first chapter into my Halo Outbreak series! This series will cross over with a few other but will mainly be Halo based. Based On an RP I did with a good freind of mine.**

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	2. What Doesn't kill you

**Chapter 2**

 **What doesn't kill you…**

Remains of the UNSC Poseidon's Trident, Unknown Ravine, Eposz, Reach. August 31, 2552

The smouldering remains of the once proud destroyer lay cut in half at the base of a large mountain it had fallen down after being hit by the _Truth and Reconciliation_ 's energy projector. Its nose was melted, its blocked engines lay only 50 meters from the rest of it body. However, by some miracle or just by the fact the UNSC builds its ships to last, A large portion of the crew was in fact, alive.

In the main hangar at the front, members of the 501st began to pick themselves off the floor of the now burning vessel.

Curtis picked himself off the ground, using the hulk of a Mongoose that was partially crushed under a support beam to prop himself up. "Anyone else alive who can hear me?"

"Ugh, we are alive? Damn, I was hoping to finally be done with this bullshit." Hudson pushed some debris off of him as he sat up.

"I am still alive." Stacy was up inspecting her bent battle rifle. "I need a new weapon however" She checked her belt. "Still got my grenades, even the special ones."

"Good. We need all the ammunition we can spare." Curtis looked though the debris "See if you can find the others or to be honest, anyone."

The ODST spread out to search the wreckage. Marines lay crushed under still functioning vehicles, one even impaled on the prongs of a forklift.

"I found Sandra, she is hurt but ok." Hudson pulled the medic out of the hulk of an overturned Scorpion Tank

"Angela's over here. She is fine" Stacy called out as she looked over the ONI officer near the main door to the hanger bay.  
"Anyone seen Allison?" Curtis was searching around for his second in command and close friend. She had been right next to him before the ship began to fall and the gravity failed due to being cut off from the main reactor. Yet he couldn't find her.

"Knowing her, she is probably further in." Hudson reassured "Don't fret too much, that girl can't die until you two finally admit it."

"I don't know what you are talking about" Curtis affirmed as her started down further into the Longsword and Pelican holding areas.

"Right" Hudson rolled his eyes "And I am the king of the Covenant"

"So, if I shoot you the war will end? "Stacy commented jokingly.

"Haha, I forgot how to laugh" Hudson set Sandra down next to Angela and began to take out a canister of Biofoam to help with any wounds. Most would ask how they can act so normal in such a situation. The answer was simple. For the last 25 years this situation had become common place for humanity. The ODSTs especially. This was just another hellhole they were stuck in on this long bloody road that was slowly creeping towards the extermination of Humanity.  
Curtis past a few wreaked Dropships until he found one that was in perfect condition. It was also the personnel pelican of a UNSC Air force member who was another member of the 501st. Unlike most UNSC Pelicans, it was painted silver and was more equipped for speed rather than taking hits, not that UNSC Pelicans could take a lot of plasma or fuel rod weapons fire to begin with. Underneath said Pelican, lay Allison, hurt but no worse for wear.

Curtis pulled her out form under the craft and pulled her into a tight hug. "Glad to see you are ok"

Allison groaned slightly. "I wouldn't say I am fully ok. Ease up with the hug!"

Curtis let go and looked at her side, a slight patch of crimson stained the black fabric of the BDU.

"Your bleeding"

Allison rolled her eyes. "It's just a scratch." She winced in pain "Ok, it a big scratch."

"I am going to get some Biofoam and some first aid supplies." Curtis assured her.

"Where is Sandra?" Allison looked around for the medic.

"She is ok, but unconscious. The others are all alive but hurt." He removed her helmet to see if her head was injured.

Allison looked past him at the broken hanger bay doors "We are still on Reach"

"We will get out of this, don't you worry." He removed his own helmet and gave her a slight kiss on her forehead. "Just wait here"

"Don't worry, I don't feel like taking a jog just yet." Allison assured him as she leaned back against the landing gear of the modified UNSC dropship.

Curtis found some medical supplies as she searched through Sandra's medic bag and soon came back to Allison. He inserted the tube of the Biofoam canister though a small hole in her uniform and sprayed the medical foam into the wound. The CQC specialist of the 501st gritted her teeth in pain as the Biofoam stung like a needle rifle shot to the gut.

"Just stay here. I am going to try and find anyone else and get to the bridge to see if Solara and the Captain are alive." Curtis helped her up and carried her over to the others

Hudson looked out over the wreckage. "The pelican back their looks like she can still fly, and god knows half of our vehicle compliment has a history of surviving worse crashes than this. We will try and find transportation."

"Good. Keep an eye on the girls and for god sakes Hudson. Keep your mind out of the gutter" Curtis warned the UNSC army airborne trooper.

"No promises but I think I can mange" Hudson saluted.

Stacy rolled her eyes "Don't worry. If he tries anything, I'll break his nose."

Curtis chuckled slightly as Hudson held up his hands in surrender at Stacy's threat. The 501st was like a family to him and he wasn't going to leave them in this hell hole. He climbed through the debris to what remained of the stairwell and began to work his way up. On the deck above he was greeted to the sight of several still living UNSC personnel who were patching themselves up. One was UNSC air force pilot, Ryan Armstrong, call sign Apollo. He was the owner of the pelican down in the hanger and a lifelong friend, member and occasional life saver of the 501st. Next was another air force pilot who though the _Trident_ was her port in the storm, Sarah Rawley, callsign Midway, due to her use of old US Navy tactics form WWII against Covenant fighters. Her GA-TL1 Longsword, a C712 variant, laid in pieces in the hanger bay as the craft as very long even with its wings and tail folded in, it was still too long and wide as it slammed around the hanger bay in its retrains as the ship crashed. This situation reminded Curtis of the fate of his half sister Ichika. She had joined the UNSC around the same time as their sister Akeno. They were both of Japanese descent from earth, but they were both family. They had been visiting their home on Harvest around the time of the first Contact with the Covenant. He pushed the memories of that dreadful incident out of his min, not wanting to remeber the horrors of Harvest any longer than he had too. After all, he had the horrors of Reach to deal with at the moment.. Curtis continued through the broken Halberd class Destroyed until he finally got to the bridge. The Glass of the viewports was smashed as were many of the consoles. Some of the bridge crew was ok but many lay impaled, electrocuted or just died form impact as UNSC ships didn't take high velocity impacts well, something many Captains who tried in vain to ram a Covenant ship have learned the hard was is the Nanolaminate is stronger than Titanium-A, even if the shields are down.  
Curtis maneuvered around the dead body of what he presumed used to be the Comm. Officer as the station it lay in front of was literally ablaze, flames and sparks arcing form the keyboard and screen. He made his way to the Captain's seat only to see Captain Baird himself, dead on the ground. Shards of reinforced glass had skewered him. He lay on the ground in a pool of blood something clutched in his right hand over his chest.

"The heck?" Curtis knelt to slowly open his former Captain's hand to find a data chip. Solara's Data chip. He had removed and protected the ship's AI as the once mighty vessel fell from the sky. He pulled the chip form his hand and inspected it. The Data crystal at the center of the chip was perfectly intact. He held it I the palm of his hand as Solara manifested her avatar. She was collapse on the chip holding her face in her hands, crying.

"I am sorry, Captain" the AI sobbed. "I failed you and the ship. I am so, so sorry"

Curtis held the AI close "Solara, it wasn't your fault"

"Yes, it was!" The golden avatar turned red, this was the AI tell tale for it being angry. If it flickered red, then it was rampant, but Solara was only 3 years old. "If I had jumped the ship sooner, we could have gotten away!"

"Solara, stop" Curtis voice was firm yet not cruel. "You are an AI not a fortune teller. You did all that you could to save this ship and hell, we even shot down a CAS in the process."

"It landed semi intact." Solara admitted

"Still shot down." Curtis pointed out "A single Halberd shot down a 6-kilometer assault carrier without taking a lot of return fire."

Solara turned pink as a form of a blush and smiled up at Curtis "Thanks. It wasn't that hard discerning the charging time of the ships plasma lines and with the boosters we managed to slip past unscathed."

Curtis smiled don at the AI "And that was something only you could have done."

Solara turned back to her normal golden hue and looked down at the fallen bridge crew. "I didn't do it alone."

"They will be remembered Solara." He assured the AI "But first, we got to get out of this ship."

"I am detecting several intact vehicles near by and…." Confusion came across the AI's face "A artificial cave nearby? Odd, I have no such records of anything like this in my data banks."

Curtis seemed interested "Can we use it to hold out against an attack?"

"Easily. Hell, it may even stand up against a glassing beam if what I am reading is right. But I have no known UNSC or civilian structures in this area" Solara was looking over the records for anything she missed.

"Could It be ONI?" Curtis asked.

"Angela tells us a lot, but I would bet 50% of my processing power that even ONI keep things hidden from high ranking members like her." Solara explained.

Curtis slotted the AI chip into a Data pad on his arm for transport. "Well we are not going to find out in here. We got to get out of this ship before the Covies start snooping. Especially survivors of the downed Assault Carrier."

[Outside the wreckage of the UNSC _Poseidon's Trident_ ]

The Surviving members of the crew that actually reached 10,000 due to everyone trying to evacuate form Reach the ship had crammed as many people onboard a sit could. 10,000 was way over capacity form the 250 sailors and 50 marine the ship was supposed to carry. The _Trident_ had tried to take them to safety, but instead only 7,350 survived the crash. The little ship had tried to carry them away form hell yet now ley broken and defeated on the burnt glass ground of the world it was built on. The managed to scrounge together a sizeable ground fleet to get to the cave. Several Warthogs of varying types although two of them were Tundra Hogs with treads meant for ice worlds but they would have to do. A Platoon of Scorpion tanks that were a bit banged up but operational. Apollo's silver redesigned D77-TC Pelican and from the remains of another downed ship, the UNSC _Musashi_ , that had crashed from orbit nearby from the ensuring battle in the space over Reach, a pair of C709 GA-TL1 Longswords. These fighters didn't have the eight 50mm coil gun cannons of the C712 but instead they had the 110mm heavy Gatling cannon. The gun was mounted dead center in the nose under the cockpit and was considered hopelessly archaic by those who didn't know how to use it. Many pilots who did know how to use it, loaded the guns with ammunition that had gotten themselves from private contractors. Specifically, old 21st century tank ammunition as the main gun for older tanks was 120mm they could find someone who would make the ammunition slightly smaller. SABOT rounds were the most popular amount C709 pilots as it followed the now standard UNSC ammunition requirements of having to penetrate energy shielding. Others used shaped charged HEAT shells of just stuck to the twin 50mm autocannons, four ASGM-10 missiles and the retractable 120mm ventral turret. Those, however who DID know how to use the 110mm cannon showed the enemy how even Hopelessly archaic tech like the cannon was lethal to the Covenant. The larger intakes and retractable wing tips showed the fighter was built for both air and space and meant to be used on ships that normally couldn't hold a Longsword. God know a C708 was not fitting inside a Frigate hangar bay, but a C709 ad C712 could. Rawley took one of these fighters up but her co-pilot had done inside her old fighter and thus she flew solo and thus she had no one to man the turret on top. The UNSC soldiers even found a few Alien vehicles. A few ghosts, a Revenant, a Specter and even a semi damaged banshee. The group headed out toward the location of the cave system, hoping to find shelter. They pasted under a archway made from wreckage from the Covenant CSO Supercarrier _Long Night of Solace_ when its two halves fell form orbit before coming upon a massive titanium gate way in which dozens of civilians in truck and car were huddled outside of, unable to get in.

"Of course, ONI won't open the door even as Reach is being _GLASSED_!" Curtis yelled. He had a deep-rooted hatred of the upper echelon of ONI. He worked with many ONI operative sin his time and even had one on the team but those were the down to earth agents. The ones who cared. The big wigs, the ones who RAN ONI? There is time one would forget they are on their side.

I recognize this type of configuration." Angela stated. "But I need to see inside to confirm it, but if I am right…this is a shipyard."

"ONI has Underground shipyards?" Hudson asked as he maned the turret of a Rocket hog looking for anything that may come after them.

"It was an experiment to build ships out of sight form both insurrectionists and later the Covenant." The ONI agent explained as she got out of the Ghost she rode in on and walked up to the massive door. She found a panel and input in her ONI clearance codes.  
In a stroke of luck, the codes were accepted, and an alarm blared as the doors began to open. The door looked thick enough to crush a Charon class light assault frigate as they opened wide as everyone, UNSC and Civilian alike rushed inside and closed the doors back. Inside was dark, the only light was from the UNSC vehicle headlights and the ominous glow form Covenant Vehicles.

"Anyone can find a power switch?" A marine called out.

After a bit of fumbling around, an army ranger called out "I think I found one!"

The switch was flipped, and the light indeed came to life. The white luminescent lights on the ceiling on the room began to illuminate what it was that the Office of Naval Intelligence had hidden down here. Jaw dropped as a massive dark gray form emerged form the blackness as the light came on. It was, to the survivors, a beautiful sight. It was over 13,000 feet long, or just a bit over 3 kilometers. It was very tall at about 800 meters high. The light shined off its twin Supermac guns. It was one of Humanity's most powerful vessel, second only to the planned Infinity class Supercarrier. It was a Punic class Supercarrier. On it side was its name. UNSC _Hornet_ CV-408.  
Curtis looked up at the ship and smiled. "Ladies, Gentlemen. We just found our ticket off this rock."

* * *

 **Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	3. Half a Billion Tons of Bad News

**Chapter 3**

 **Half a Billion Tons of bad news**

Unknown ONI Underground Shipyard, Eposz, Reach. August 31, 2552

Both Military and Civilians began to relax as they entered the massive hanger. It was safe, for the moment at least. Curtis just stood looking up at the lone massive vessel that that shipyard held.

"They had this the whole time? Why wasn't it in the battle!?" Curtis asked angrily to no one in particular.

"Because it won't start for one." The voice was a new one. Turning to look at its source Curtis was greeted by the sight of several ONI operatives. Most wore either a black painted version of the standard UNSC Marine armour or a ONI branded version of the ODST armour. The vice in particular belonged to the lone operative in a dress uniform. She was tall and had a bombshell like figure that would have men and even a few women looking at her. Her had medium length black hair and piercing blue eye. Her uniform was torn in some places and stained with crimson. A silenced M6C/SOCOM pistol was held firm in her hands. The other ONI operatives had scorch marks and a few holds from Blamite shards and fuel rod rounds. They had seen combat.

"What do you mean? And who are you?" Curtis asked the new arrival.

"Officer Miranda Lawson, ONI Section One, Intelligence gathering. My team and I help get the information that was going to be used for Operation: Red Flag…Then a damn Covenant Corvette starts blowing up Sword Base. We lost quite a few in the initial bombardment." She looked down in shame. It was ONI Section One's job to gather intelligence and the Covenant showed up and Reach without them knowing. "We evacuated and, on the way, out we found records of this place. We came earlier and tried to get the ship operational to help in the fight, but her reactor will not start up. 500,000 million tons of the most advanced weapons and technology humanity has to offer along with a few captured Covenant weapons and shields and it doesn't even start up."

"So that's it?" a random civilian cop from New Alexandrea who was among the group of escaping civilians. "We are stuck in here with a busted ship?!"

"Of course not." Miranda assured him "We have gotten the ship secondary and tertiary reactors online as they are normal UNSC fusion reactors but with the main reactor it's an experimental Plasma-fusion reactor is being quite difficult to bring online. The ship can fly and even make orbit but it slipspace, MAC guns and other weapon systems are all offline without it. We can't even fire the Plasma Lines or Ion Torpedoes"

"I am sorry, Plasma lines?!" Curtis looked at the ONI agent like she was insane.

"Yes. We have had 25 years to salvaged and reverse engineer covenant warships weapons. We got several working plasma projectors. We still cannot make our own but the ones we have work." Miranda explained. "Well, if we can power it anyways."

Allison came up to the two and looked up at the massive vessel. "The heck is an Ion Torpedo?"

"An ion torpedo is our answer to the Covenant Plasma Torpedo. Its creation by Hannibal Weapon Systems is that of as type of energy based kinetic projectile that is very effective against energy shielding. The weapon is technically only semi-energy based but the system used to launch it needs power form the main reactor."

"What about the Archer missiles or ATAF missiles?" Asked one of the _Trident_ 's Weapons officers

"The _Hornet_ Doesn't use Standard ATAF missiles or Archers. We use M6040 Bidnet fusion missile pods capable of firing one missile at a time or all 60 at once using a scaled-down fusion drive for propulsion, the Bident uses a nuclear-pumped X-Ray laser warhead as its explosive munition. However, the warhead is capable of being swapped-out with kinetic rod bundles or even fusion warheads for bombarding the surfaces of planets. The missiles are also Fusion based as to make them effective against Covenant energy shielding and their targeting systems allow them to go after even fighter craft with ease. Though for fighters, we have the Multiple Independently Targeted Vehicle Pod Mk II weapons system for fighters. The Pods are used both of Starfighters in the Mk I Variant, though the ST/Medusa missile is mostly used on the newer fighters, and the MK II for anti-fighter and anti-ship support on the main vessel. For ground support we have the M4512 ASGM-3 Argent VI missiles. Similar to older Lancet Micro missiles, these weapons are more closely related to the Archer in size and power and are very effective at clearing ground targets." The ONI operative explained purely form memory.

Many looked up at the ship in wonder. Fusion missiles?! Ion Torpedoes!? Energy shields?! Plasma Lines!? If they got this ship back to UNSC space and had this tech put on the rest of the fleet, a squadron of Frigates could be as lethal at a Punic Carrier Division! They could actually begin to push back to Covenant and even take the fight to their home worlds!

"We have got to get this ship back to Earth. Its Technology could save humanity!" Curtis affirmed.

"I couldn't agree more" Miranda added "But even with the new twin Repulsor main engines and the powerful fusion secondaries we can't use sub light drives to get back to Earth in time to be useful."

"Then we have to restart the main reactor and get the hell out of here before the Covenant find us" Angela added as she came up to the group. "And I believe I have a plan though it may slightly damage the ship."

"If it works, it works. What is it?" Curtis asked his ONI squad mate.

"It's rather simple. Overload the Tertiary reactors and dump the energy into the main reactor to jump start it" Angela explained

Miranda looked at her both considering it and the implications "That would work, but without the extra reactors our MAC guns and Plasma line firing speed would be heavily reduced as the extra rectors are there solely for combat purposes."

"We can fix them later and this ship is armed to the teeth." Curtis stated as he turned to the ONI agent with a confident smile. "Hell, I doubt you told us everything it has"

"If I did, we would be here all day." The agent smiled back at him "Lets get the hell out of here then"  
Curtis nodded to her then turned to face the crowed of UNSC and Civilian personnel "Alright everyone we have a plan and we and now on the clock! If you are not UNSC then your have just been officially drafted into the Navy until we get back to UNSC space! Grab what you can and get aboard! We are leaving this hellhole!

Cheers erupted thought the crowd as everyone began to grab any bit of useful tech or luggage and brought it aboard the ship.

 **[** _Onboard UNSC Hornet CV-408, on route to the bridge_ **]**

As the 501st had boarded, Miranda had handed Curtis a Data pad with all the inventory and information of the ship. The amount of experimental systems, weapons and vehicles this thing had was to a point it was no longer funny, Covenant weapons and vehicles included. Half of this equipment could change the tide of the war in Humanities favor easily. However, there was one thing nagging him at the back of his mind.  
"Officer Lawson, why are you allowing ME command of the _Hornet_?" Curtis asked, "I figured ONI would take over as it your ship and you do outrank me."

Miranda nodded "Yes, I do outrank you but then again, so does Major Rich, yet she follows your command." She explained "You get your troops home safely through outstanding crisis and your team has experience manning a Starship."

Allison shivered "The Equinox evacuation. I think it would be best if we DIDN'T bring that up."

Miranda looked confused "Why? The operation was successful, and your team brought down a large landing party and 2 CAS assault carriers with those Fury tactical nukes."

"We left a lot of Civilians behind that day." Curtis explained "They were cut off and they could reach the ship. We leave half full as the rest burned in plasma fire"

"I am sorry." Miranda gave them a genuine look of apology "I guess working for ONI just make one numb to all the death. I apologize if I come off as insensitive."

Curtis waved her off "Its fine. To be honest its also wearing us down as well. Its a worse fight to try and stay human then actually fighting the Covenant."

"If we get this shit back home and get the fleet upgraded we may finally have a chance to catch out breath as we push back those split chin sons of bitches!" Hudson added trying to lighten the mood.

"Amen to that." Allison gave him a high five as the group finally reached the bridge.

The bridge was a cross of old and new designs and technologies. The layout was very similar to the Phoenix class refitted colony ship turned assault ship main bridge that sat above the three siege MAC guns. The sides of the bridge near the back had lowered areas were main weapons, Ground forces coordination and starfighter coordination and in the center and front sat a large Holotable with holotank for a AI, a Large screen that showed the condition of the ship above the main window, a station for the caption to monitor readout at the front below the main view screen and finally the stations for helm, slipspace navigation, communications and other tasks. In the center just in front of the winder sat the captain's chair and another holotank for the AI to converse with the Captain.

Stacy let out a low whistle "Damn, this is some set up."

Angela looked around as if inspecting it "We should have sufficient crew to operate all stations"

"Good, cuz we need to get this thing back to earth, Cole protocol be dammed." Curtis remarked as he moved to the Captain's chair.

"What if the Covenant track us to Earth?" Allison asked

Curtis honestly wondered himself, but Miranda was quick to answer "The slipspace drive is EXTREMELY advanced. We can make several fake jumps and still make it back to earth in quick order"

Curtis nodded at this plan before looking back at the team medic who had been quiet for quite some time. "You ok Sandra? You have been abnormally quiet."

The Corpsman had her helmet off, her long green hair tied up in a bun as she operated in the field. "I just have this feeling something is going to happen."

"Your feelings have a nasty habit of coming true, ya know." Hudson remarked "You psychic or something?"

"The UEG ceased all work into psychic abilities back when it was torn between the Civilian run UEG and the Military run UED in the wake of the rainforest wars." Angela pointed out.

"The hell is the UED?" Allison asked as she sat down at a weapons console.

Angela stood up like a teacher would "The United Earth Directorate. In the wake of the rainforest wars there were those who wanted a Military run government. The UED was that attempt but the UEG backed by the newly formed UNSC took them down. Last anyone heard of them was a lone fleet of ships that were just reaching the size of a destroyer using old warp technology left after a group of colony ships they had sent out and were determined lost with all hands along with the colony ships."

"Our slipspace drives sucked back then. They could have actually survived, and we just wrote them off as dead?" Curtis looked at her in disbelief.

"Their last known direction was heading past what we now know to be deep in Covenant space. Its likely they were intercepted by a younger Covenant empire and they used the data form their warp trajectory to find us via a rough general direction." Angela explained.

"Wow. We fucked ourselves before we even left the Sol system. That is just…wow." Hudson sat down in a seat, his face buried in his hands.

Angela shrugged "It's only a theory."

"We can figure out a long-lost mystery later." Curtis affirmed. "We need to get out of here first" He took Solara's datachip out of his wrist mounted pad and placed it in the holotank next to the Captain's chair.

The Tank came to life as Solara's avatar popped up on it. "Woah! Nice new ship."

"And we need you to help get the main reactor started." Curtis informed her as the others took positions at a station they could work at as other surviving bridge crew from the _Trident_ came onto the bridge.

Solara cocked her head to the side in confusion "Then you couldn't have asked the other 3 AIs?"

"What are you talking about? This ship doesn't have an AI let alone 3." Miranda explained

"I am detecting 3 data chips on this vessel. Each one holding a smart AI" Solara countered

"But how?! They were not listed on the manifest!" Miranda looked back at Solara.

"Is this REALLY the time!?" Curtis shouted at them both. "Solara can you get the main reactor up and running?"

Solara smirked at him "Easily." She began to overcharge the 4 tertiary reactors and dump the energy into the primary Plasma-fusion reactor. The massive machine soon came to life "Honestly it's a wonder humanity got so far without AIs in the first place."

"Tone down the sass Solara." Stated as he looked down on the mischievous golden AI

"Hmm, nope." Solara suck her tongue out to emphasis her point. Curtis cracked a small grin. The AI's silly personality was one thing that helped keep the group together after hard missions. She would always try and keep up moral.

Solara began to pre-flight checks. "Primary and secondary engines online. Repulsor lifts and RCS thrusters online. Shields at 60% and rising fast. Weapons online. Communications online. Detaching mooring clamps and opening the main hanger door"  
Above the massive vessel, the roof began to part as the hanger bay door opened. A heat wave washed into the hanger as heat and radiation form the Glassing outside flowed in, the thick hull of the ship protecting those within.

"Arming Havoc mines to keep the Covenant from getting any Information on this place. Time set to 60 seconds." Angela stated as she and Miranda set up the detonation of all sensitive materials according to the Cole protocol.

"Good." Curtis said as he leaned back in his chair before turning to Stacy who sat at the helm "Take us out."

She nodded and turned to the controls. Slowly but surely, the massive hulking Punic supercarrier began to rise up out of the hanger it engine burning bright fusion blue as it clawed it way up into the sky. As it rose, a CCS battlecruiser and two CRS light cruiser came out of the clouds on a direct intercept trajectory for the lone human ship.

"Allison, you have the weapons! Make these fuckers get acquainted with out new guns." Curtis ordered.

The scarlet haired ODST couldn't contain her grin as she targeted the lead ship with the plasma lines. A beam of silver-blue energy lanced out from the upper right side of the MAC guns and struck the alien battlecruiser dead center on the bow. The ships had not raised their shields as they were being overconfident in their ability to kill the _Hornet_. The Beam gutted the unshielded CCS all the way down to its reactor which promptly exploded as the beam of magnetically controlled plasma hit home, the detonation slightly damaging the UNSC ship's shields and modestly damaging the unshielded CRS cruisers who were now very aware that this Human ship was far from a normal human design. They raised their shields and held nothing back but were shocked as Plasma torpedoes hit a barrier of golden plasma. The _Hornet_ fired once again from the left side of the MAC guns, its heavier plasma lance taken from a CAS piercing the light cruiser's shields and gutting its engines as it hit its stern. The last ship broke off and attempted to retreat. The _Hornet_ however was not done with it yet. From the top decks, several bolts of blue erupted form the hull and raced towards the fleeing CRS. These blue bolts, the Ion Torpedoes flew true and slammed into the shields of the cruiser weaken them. The supercarrier then fired 4 Bident missiles after it all of which hit the hull of the stricken vessel and detonated in brilliant flashes, ripping the Covenant vessel apart.

"All enemy contacts destroyed." Solara announced as the crew cheered. A close-range engagement like that and they won?! This ship was a godsend and its tech was going to save humanity. It was at the very moment the crew had that though, the alarms rang out.

"An Assault Carrier just jumped in behind us!" Angela cried out form her station

"In atmosphere!?" Curtis ask as the ship shook violently from the impact of a plasma beam striking the ship. "Solara, we need to jump out of here, NOW!"

"An in atmosphere slipspace jump!? Again?! Are you mad!?" Solara yelled back at him

The ship shook again as the CAS hit them repeatedly. Allison was returning fire, but the CAS had diverted all power to its fore shields and the ventral plasma lance, both of which now outclassed the _Hornet_ 's own. "If you don't we are all dead!" Curtis pleaded with Solara

Solara was worried. If she screwed up it could kill them all the same, but she had no choice. "Spinning up slipspace drive." Radiation levels began to spike as the drive was fed energy form the reactors. Behind them, the CAS had launched boarding craft to capture the _Hornet_ just as the Punic's slipspace drive ripped the fabric of reality a new one. The UNSC ship's massive engines pushed it into the portal as the CAS's shipmaster, caring little for those already deployed in dropships, had his vessel also jump after it. The two vessels both vanished into the seven dimensions of slipspace as twin massive implosions caused by the air displaced by the vessels jumping in atmosphere erupted outwards like massive nuclear detonations destroying the previously launched dropships. The _Hornet_ while it may have been in slipspace, was far from save as the CAS pursued it relentlessly following its slipspace wake. Little did either ship know where exactly they were going,but if they had, they would have both wished they had stayed on Reach.

* * *

 **Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	4. Get Out and Ask for Directions

**Chapter 4, Part 1**

 **Get out and Ask for Directions**

UNSC Hornet CV-408, Unknown location, September 1,2552

A massive portal opened up as the hulking form of the Punic class Supercarrier, UNSC _Hornet_ , Re-emerged from slipspace in atmosphere once again but its was not Reach. The sky was lit in a perpetual twilight as if it was stuck between day and night. The carrier made good speed away form it entry point as not a few second later another portal opened, and the Organic looking hulking frame of a CAS Assault carrier came out of slipspace behind it. The Covenant vessel turned to pursue the fleeing UNSC ship with all speed. The _Hornet_ dove down past what seemed to be massive biological structures that stretched up to some unseen ceiling like veins or arteries of a body created by an insane biologist. Upon passing these structures the CAS stopped and seemed to completely forget about the _Hornet_ and began to glass them with impunity as UNSC vessel made its hasty escape.  
"They stopped chasing us." Solara confirmed as they image of the CAS got smaller as she and Stacy pushed the vessel engines to the maximum to get as much distance between them and it as possible.

"Good. Take us low and out of here and try and find out where the hell we are" Curtis leaned back in his chair, relaxing as the Assault carrier was now preoccupied by…something else. However, it still left them lost in space.

"Well we are somewhere…. strange to put it lightly." Solara stated as she manifested on the Holotable instead of her holotank. She pulled up a hologram of the planet and showed their location as being _inside_ it. "This seems to be a Dyson sphere like structure. A Purely artificial planet." The AI looked at the Hologram with great interest as she walked around it. "It has 4 layers if you will. The Core, at the very center of the planet, which is an artificial satellite star that provides heat and light to the inner surface. The there is an inner layer is on the inside of the crust we are above is like the inside of a Dyson sphere as we know it. The other surface which we are above which also has an artificial star giving it warmth as well as having a standard Day/night cycle and finally the armoured shell which contains everything within. I have detected an entrance, but I doubt even the Covenant could open that door." The Holograms changed again showing a lot of the inside of the inner sphere and a lot of the outer surface covered in a strange biomatter that reached the armoured shell. "I have NO clue what this stuff is however. Its like its all…. alive. I can't explain it. I have been able to find small areas that are free of the stuff, the largest is a few minutes away and has what appears to be a docking yard of some kind."

Curtis sighed "Well take us there and man the guns in case anything comes by. Is that Biomass crap dangerous?"

"At this point I could only tell you it smells very bad, but in all honesty, I currently am unable to say whether it is safe to eat for all I know or some potent crap that eats starships for breakfast." Solara said with as shrug of her shoulders.

"Stand down from Condition Alpha. I want everyone ready if needed but I think we all need a few minutes to relax before someone does something stupid." Curtis stated "Being alert is one thing, being too trigger happy and scared is another. Get some rest, some food or just a shower and a change of clothes. That Covie Carrier isn't coming this way anytime soon it seems." Curtis got up out of his central seat and stretched. "Hey Solara, you said there were 3 other AIs onboard right?"

The Golden AI nodded "Yes. Wait, why?" She looked at him with suspicion.

"I figure you could use a bit of help while the crew tries to unwind"

Solara shook her head "I don't need help. I am a brand new 3rd generation Smart AI, I can run this vessel blindfolded."

Curtis folded his arms and stared at her like a disapproving parent. "Solara"

Solara sighed "Deck 3 armory, just past Vehicle bay 20."

Allison stood up form her console "20 vehicle bays!?"

"More than that actually. The ship is over 3 kilometers and change long, we have A LOT of space. Most used for Weapons, reactors, hangers and storage." Solara explained "We have a VERY extensive fighter selection for a carrier including Longswords both 709s and 712s, B-65 Shortsword bombers, Prototype YSS-1000 Sabres, F-41E Broadswords, several OF-92 Booster Frames and a new fighter, the YSS-2000 Katana Prototype Exoatmospheric Multirole Strike Fighter."

Allison's eyes widened "Damn. That is one hell of a loadout."

Solara agreed. "And that doesn't even cover the other airborne vehicles we have plus the Prowler prototype."

"What…. Did you just say, Prowler prototype!?" Curtis Turn to the AI still on the Holotable.

Solara nodded and brought up a Hologram of the craft. It looked more like a fighter than ONIs normal Sahara class heavy prowlers "This is the UNSC Winter, the first of the Winter-class stealth corvettes. Its lightly armed with two M8545 ASW/AC 40mm Machine linked Autocannons, a CBU-R68 Moray system and just Six Pulse laser turrets"

Curtis looked at the Hologram impressed. "A bit lightly armed but that is common among prowlers. And who knows, with all this new tech we may change that."

"Thankfully I have more than a few members in my team who are skill veterans of the Prowler Corps. They may take a liking to such a vessel. God knows Jacob can't do jack with a Carrier but he can make a Prowler dance." Miranda stepped in as she looked at the projection. "Kind of reminds me of the Black Cat sub-prowlers."

"It should. It was based on it due to its form and function" Solara added.

"Alright then." Curtis looked around the room "Miranda, go see if you can get a fresh set of BDUs or something and go send your team to go inspect that prowler. The rest of you, take 15 mikes to get some chow or something and get back here. Rest is one thing, but we still have no clue where we are. I am going to go see if I can get the other AIs to help"

"I may go with you." Miranda stated, "One of those AI might be for that Prowler and seeing as we won't have a full crew, a AI would help."  
Curtis nodded "Alright then Officer Lawson. You're with me"

"Just call me Miranda, Commander" Miranda smiled at him.

He nodded and the two left together.

"Umm, since when were ONI agents nice?" Hudson asked only to receive his answer in the form of a smack to the back of the head courtesy of Angela, as a jealous Allison glared at Miranda.

 **[** _UNSC Hornet CV-408, Deck 3, on route to the Armory_ **]**

Curtis and Miranda walked down the hallways of the vessel approaching the armory. Curtis however couldn't help but think about the ONI agent he was walking with due to his distrust of ONI. She seemed trustworthy but then again, many agents initially present themselves as such before their true nature is later revealed.

"So, Miranda, tell me, why join ONI?" Curtis asked her the same question he asked Angela when he first met her.

The raven-haired bombshell of an ONI operative sighed. "You don't trust me, do you?"

"I have a very strong hatred of ONI." Curtis told her.

"Fair enough I suppose." She relented. "The Office of Naval Intelligence doesn't have the most…appealing background."

Curtis scoffed "Understatement of the Century."

"But I had my reasons for joining." Miranda assured him "But what I am about to tell you is quite classified, but then again so is everything on this ship so I say it almost doesn't matter." She thought about it for a moment. "It Started before the war, my father, Henry Lawson, was an Bioengineer and egomaniac who worked on two projects that have been hidden form the public, but their fruit known to the UNSC. He worked on the Orion project later known as the Spartan-I, project and even on the Spartan-II project. He was a perfectionist and as such, he didn't want a child, but a legacy, like his own pseudo humanity." She looked down, as if ashamed "I was not born, but made"

Curtis turn to face her with a shocked look on his face "Wait, WHAT?!"

"You heard me. Made. Everything, from my intelligence, physical constitution, to my appearance were designed before birth to be excellent. I wasn't the first he had made. I was just the first he had _kept_." Miranda explained

"What sick fucker does something like this!?" Curtis shouted in complete disbelief at her 'father's actions

"Someone who even ONI hated." Miranda continued. "My father was not one to hide his viewpoints and his disgust at the UEG, UNSC and ONI even as he worked for them. ONI scientists who worked with him made growing up slightly easier as they were nice but the instant my father had me alone he put me though training that would have made the Spartan-II proud, only difference is I didn't have the same augmentations as a spartan and nearly died several times."

"Augmentations?" Curtis asked, "I have heard some weird shit about the Spartans."

Miranda nodded, "Well not all of the rumors are true, but some are. Spartans have nearly unbreakable bones, 300% greater reflexes, strength to rip a Sangheili apart and more. What my father never understood about Catherine Halsey's work was that they were augmentations. That that improved what was there already. He tried to make me from template of his own genome and with the augmentations from day one. Granted I am more inline with what the Orion Project was hoping to achieve, but I could only DREAM of matching a spartan. No matter how well I did he always wanted better."

"He wanted a spartan for a child. A Superhuman legacy." Curtis filled in the blanks.

Miranda nodded "Yes. But ONI caught onto this and took me away form him and tried to off for misusing their resources. My father, using his connections got away and joined the New Colonial Alliance, an Insurrectionist group just before their big spilt at the outset of the War with the Covenant. Half of the group believed it was the UNSC who started the war and wanted peace with the aliens, and the other hate both and just wanted independence for the UEG. Both sides of the NCA took off with several captured frigates, civilians ships and even 3 colony ships and left for deep space. From what ONI could determine, they left the Orion arm of the Galaxy to escape the war." She looked up at the ceiling. "He is still alive, and with those cowards out their somewhere. I also know he stole his data with him, so he could continue his work. Him and that damned Innie Captain he was screwing."

"Innie Captain?" Curtis questioned her for. He had a slight nagging feeling he knew this Captain

"Captain Hanna Shepard, formally Hanna forge. Ex-wife of one Marine Sergeant John Forge. A UNSC hating cargo pilot who stole a Paris heavy frigate and ran off to god knows where" Miranda stated with venom in her voice

"You did your research. But You missed one thing about her" Curtis added. "She had a daughter"

"What?" She was a bit surprised that Curtis knew anything about her.

"Hanna Forge is Allison's Mother. One who she hates as Allison loved her dad and all he did and when his ship, the _Spirit of Fire_ Disappeared, she took it hard. Compound that with how her mother straight up left her and her father as she asked to join the UNSC when she was only 10, she HATES the woman." Curtis explained.

"Well, it seems me and Allison have a lot more in common, though in a way I wish we didn't" Miranda stated as they finally reached the door to the Armory.

"We all have our demons." Curtis rested a comforting hand on her shoulder "We just have to not let them hold us back."

Miranda looked at him and gave a small smile "Your right.". She investigated the vast armoury before them "Shall we?"  
They both entered the room to find it absolutely jab packed with weapons. MA5s, BR-55s, DMRs, even experimental weapons like several labelled as the Multiple Launch Rocket System-1 Hydra Gyroc Launcher and the Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920 railgun. The room was stocked with old and new guns alike, even several Covenant weapons painted in the olive green and dark grays of the UNSC along with modification like some had a titanium-A casing instead of the Nanolaminate and other UNSC add ons denoting them as UNSC owned.

"Damn, they left nothing behind, did they?" Curtis looked on at the wide variety of weapons.

"No, I don't think they did" Miranda stated as she ran her hand down the stock of one of the UNSC most powerful ground weapons, a M99 Special Application Scoped Rifle otherwise known as the M99 Stanchion Gauss rifle. It also has a variant next to it that was boxier version labelled the M99A2S3 Stanchion, which looked just as if not more powerful. Past the gauss rifles, she found a small armoured box which was labelled 'AI storage'. "I think I found them."  
She opened the case to see 3 chips. One glowed silver and the other two a dark red and a lighter red respectively. Miranda took the dark red chip out and examined it when its avatar popped up on the chips surface.

"3rd generation UNSC AI CHR-8790-675, Charon reporting." The newly dubbed Charon reported in a military like fashion. The AI too the appearance of a woman on her early 20s wearing a United States Navy dress whites uniform minus the hat. She had long black hair and just everything about her just screamed military, more so than other AIs made for ONI or even those who picked Non-human avatars.

"Hello there Charon, I am Intelligence Officer Miranda Lawson of the Office of Naval Intelligence and here with me is Commander Curtis Fletcher of the UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Identify and confirm" Miranda spoke to the AI.

"Identities verified" Charon swiftly replied. "Greetings Officer Lawson, Commander Fletcher."

"Umm, I have never seen an AI act so…. well…. like a computer" Curtis looked uncomfortable around Charon. Smart AIs had a personality, hell even dumb AIs had some semblance of one, but Charon was, cold, calculating and a bit…inhuman, which was saying something as Smart AI are made form scans of human brains, meaning in a way, she _is_ human.

"I am just responding in the way my creators programmed me to do so." Charon replied emotionlessly.

"I have heard of people doing that to dumb AIs but not Smart ones." Miranda added as she looked over the AI as it too unnerved her. "Do you have any experience or knowledge of UNSC prowler operations?"

"An extensive list, Officer Lawson" Charon replied

"Right, then you will help man an experimental prototype we have aboard" Miranda told the AI. Charon nodded in response. "I'll drop her off with my team and meet you back on the bridge Commander"

"Right, you do that." Curtis told he before adding "And for god's sake get a new uniform, your current one is in tatters."

"Blame the Zealot who tried to gut me with his sword" Miranda shot back before she left, leaving Curtis with the other two AI chips.

Curtis rolled his eyes as he had his own energy sword taken from a Sangheili he beat in honorable combat. Something he kept with him at all time. H e thought bout that day as he rested a hand on its ordained hilt before focusing on the task at hand. He pulled out the chip with the silver glow and the light red chip. The two chips came to life.

The silver AI spoke up first. "Prototype UNSC AI VAR-657-987, Call me Valkyr." She spoke confidently. Like Solara her body was made up of scrolling patterns and symbols only her main body was jet black with the symbols running up her form being silver. She wore silver gauntlets, armoured boots and a Valkyrie styled helmet with wings that covered her eyes. The code that flowed through her was moving a lot faster than other AIs he had seen before, even Solara.

"Nice to meet you Valkyr." Curtis smiled down at the AI. "I don't suppose I can ask what you were supposed to do onboard this ship"

"Ship?" She looked confused "I have been on the _Hornet_ this whole time!?"

"It looks that way." Curtis explained to her. "Some ONI officer tried to start up the ship but couldn't and they didn't know you were aboard"

"Oh, come on!" Valkyr exclaimed "I was supposed to take her out for her maiden flight!"

"We kind of had to rush as Reach was glassed." Curtis calmly explained.

Valkyr looked up at him in shock. "Wait, what?! Reach is…gone?" Curtis nodded solemnly. "That leaves nothing between The Covenant and Earth."

"Which is why we need you." Curtis looked down seriously at the warship AI "We are currently in some unknown Dyson sphere and we need to get back to Earth so that the _Hornet_ 's technology can be spread to the rest of the fleet"

"Right" Valkyr's posture and voice were more serious now. "What do you need Captain?"

"Its Commander actually." Curtis corrected "And We are lost in space in some weird Dyson sphere with a CAS hunting us."

"Why not just jump out?" Valkyr asked

"The Tertiary reactors are slightly damaged as we had to overload them to jumpstart the main reactor. It will talk a while before we can jump again." Curtis explained.

Valkyr processed this information "I recommend we get those rectors operational as they extra power will be invaluable."

"I agree, and I will get men on that right away, but first I need you to help our current AI, Solara, in controlling this ship while we assess the crew." Curtis explained to Valkyr

"Wait, you have another AI in control!? This was supposed to…" She stopped herself as she knew the circumstances. "Ok. I'll help."

Curtis smiled down at the little AI. "Thank you Valkyr." He looked at the last chip. "What can you tell me about this other AI?"

Valkyr looked at it for awhile. "I don't know. I don't remember seeing this chip. I remember some cold ONI AI, but not her."

"Her?" Curtis looked confused.

"I can speak with her even if she is not coming out of her chip you know." Valkyr explained as if it was common knowledge.

"Oh" He looked at the chip in his hand. "Then why won't she come out?"

"I don't know." Valkyr explained. "She won't tell me anything."

Suddenly the chip flared to life as the female avatar sprung up form it. She had long hair, and her avatar was covered up much like that of Solara with just patterns and symbols. "I keep to myself for I don't believe a ODST has the clearance to be commanding a ship."

"Well sorry I didn't have time to find a commanding officer as Reach was being _Glassed_!" Curtis shot back at the AI. "Who are you to judge anyways!"

The AI folded her arms and stared up at him. "My name is Kalmiya. I was created and serve under Dr. Catherine Halsey."

"That explains the stick up your ass" Valkyr said. Kalmiya glared at her.

"Look. I know you are not the biggest fan of this, but until we can get back to UNSC space, and you PLEASE just deal with this and help us survive this mess?" Curtis asked.

"I don't have much of a choice not to mention is Reach was glassed…." She looked off to the side. "Then Dr. Halsey went with it." Her voice held an air of regret and sadness.

"Yes, it probably does." Curtis looked at her. "But it is not the end. If we can get this ship back to the UNSC, the technology and knowledge it holds could turn this war around. We could be able to fight back. So please...will you help me get this ship, and her crew, home?"

Kalmiya looked down then up at him. "Very well, I shall assist in getting this vessel home. For Humanity."

"Thank you" Curtis smiled down at the AI.

Suddenly the ships shook a bit. The intercom came to life.

"Commander Fletcher to the bridge! We need you!" Solara's panicked voice came down over the ship's intercom.

With Both AI's in hand Curtis made a mad dash for the bridge. After a tram ride and a quick dash, he reached it. On the bridge was the rest of the bridge crew in varying states of readiness due to the abruptness of the call. Out side the main window was held their attention. A Large Silver and blue structure that was not human and sure as hell not Covenant either stood before them. It held several bays, which seemed to be dry docks for MUCH larger vessels than even a CSO, yet one reconfigured itself to hold the _Hornet_. The ship was being dragged in against it will and Solara couldn't gain back control. Curtis tried to help by plugging in Valkyr and Kalmiya, but they too were unable to regain control of the supercarrier as it was pulled into the bay and secured with large pillars which shot out powerful gravity tethers that held the UNSC ship firmly in place.

"Someone, please tell me what the FUCK is going on!?" Curtis looked around both Scared and a bit confused.

"I can answer that." A voice came over the comm. Channels. It was tinny like a old style AI and seemed…wise in its words, yet a hint of…something else lingered.

"Who are you?" Curtis started. "And why have you seized control of my ship?!"

Behind the group over the Holotable a bright yellow portal appeared before out of it martialized a silver orb like robot with a big green eye that was slightly cracked. "All questions will be answered in time, but for now introductions are in order. Hello, I am 5648 Resolute Defiance. I am the Monitor of Shield installation 56-B. We have much to discuss, Reclaimer."

 **End of Part One**

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	5. Enemy of my Enemy is still my Enemy

**Chapter 4 part 2**

 **Enemy of my Enemy is still my Enemy**

UNSC _Hornet_ , Shield world 56-B, Northeast quadrant Drydock, September 1, 2552

The Bridge crew of the _Hornet_ seemed frozen as if in cryosleep, and to be honest it was easy to see why. A strange floating lightbulb had seized control and immobilized the most advanced UNSC starship and had _TELEPORTED_ aboard and was talking to them as if nothing was amiss. Even the Covenant only had rudimentary point to point teleport spires, but this was closer to something straight out of Star Trek! The one relief was that the thing didn't seem hostile, which makes the UNSC's first contact rate have at least one point in the peaceful tally.

"Umm, Hello Resolute Defiance" Curtis started, unsure as to really what to say.

"You can just refer to me as Defiance, reclaimer." The orb responded as it floated round the bridge looking at the consoles. "Hmm, primitive yet effective input consoles, study designs, yet a plain layout design. Even in 100,000 years human vessels do not change."

"Um, what?" It was Stacy who took point in the conversation "What do you mean in 100,000 years? Human's have only been space faring for the past 500."

Defiance turned to face her "Only 500 years and you have advance so close to your original status? Perhaps the librarian was onto something."

"Wait." Angela stepped forward "If you know of the Librarian, then you are Forerunner in nature."

"Correct!" Defiance exclaimed. " I was made to monitor this installation by my creators for your eventual reclamation."  
"Ok, Pause." Curtis took back control of the conversation. "Why do you keep calling us Reclaimers? What is going on!? And don't give me any of that in due time BS. I want answers, NOW!"

Defiance looked at him then out the window then back at him "Very well. Where do you want me to begin?"

"From as far back as you can regarding this reclaimer stuff" Curtis looked at the AI in a way that showed he was not in a mood to be messed with.

Defiance 'sighed' "Fine." His eye opened up large Holographic images that rotated around him "100,000 years ago, my creators and your ancestors both operated their own vast interstellar empires, with my creators, the Forerunners, being the more advanced, if only by a bit. One day human ships began to glass and attack Forerunner worlds for seemingly no reason, they seemed to have been expanding and my creators went to war with the humans. They won, and humanity was de-evolved so they would have to regain their technology and place in the universe"

"That seems harsh" Hudson replied as he watched the holoimages

"In a way it was, and my creator's folly was not heeded the warning the humans had tried to tell us from day one." Defiance spoke as his eye flickered to red " _Those short sighted, ignorant morons so high and mighty on their worlds that-_ " His eye changed back to green "Apologies, I have been a bit…...damaged during the conflict that has engulfed my installation"

"What conflict?" Allison asked as she looked outside.

"I am getting to that." Defiance reassured. "We soon learned that Humanity had not been expanding…. but running."

"Running form what?" Curtis asked cautiously

"The flood." Defiance said, his eye turning red once more "A Mysterious extragalactic parasite that consumed the biomass of whatever it got a hold of and used that biomass to get more." He showed a clip of an ancient human being infected. The sounds of bones snapping as a 3-foot-tall popcorn looking monster _forced_ its tendrils into his flesh and then it self fully within. The body began to decay and transform it into a sort of biological weapon for the infection form to use in combat. Several officers had to excuse themselves as they looked like they were going to puke as they watched the horror show before them. One form of monster came form one who was infected with flood spores who sprouted long bone like swords form his hands and other protrusions before assaulting a Forerunner warrior servant.

"Christ almighty." Hudson looked on in shock at what he saw. "Hollywood made movies for years about shit like this, but to see the real deal." He shivered. "How the heck do you stop those things?"

"Combat forms can be stopped with sufficient weapon fire, but weapon that produce extreme heat or blast waves are considered most appropriate. Piercing weapon are only effective if one aims for the Exposed infection form, and that is only if there is one." Defiance explained. "The Flood-Forerunner war lasted 3 centuries before my creators exhausted ever means of combating the flood, all to no avail."

"300 hundred years!?" Curtis exclaimed. "And if they couldn't beat them in that time, how did they win?"

"They didn't" Defiance said. "At least, not in a way you would define victory." The images shifted again, this time to 7 massive artificial ring worlds around a massive structure that had large open arms that could easily dwarf the massive rings. "This, is the Halo array. My creator's final solution. These rings, placed in point all over the Galaxy, when activated sent a pulse that wiped out all life, or at least any life with sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood. It was discovered that the only way to beat the flood was to starve them and that is what Halo did. Wipe the Galaxy clean of all sentient life."

"Wait, if the rings wiped out all life, then how are WE here?" Allison asked.

"My creators were not stupid enough to just wipe the galaxy and leave it at that." Defiance explained. "They stored the DNA of every known species in the galaxy, from humanity to the San'Shyuum. From the Unggoy to the Lekgolo, and Sangheili to the Kig-Yar and beyond. The only ones they didn't index, was themselves as they realized that is was their folly that caused the Flood to spread. Those who survived on the Ark, a structure that built the Halos and is place outside of the Galaxy, they abandoned their technology and moved to uninhabited planets to live alone in exile in what they called their great Journey."

"The Great Journey? Isn't that what the Covenant are trying to attain?" Asked Sandra. "They always take about it"

"I have noticed that myself in a few interrogations I performed on Elites" Miranda stated.

"The Covenant is pursuing a false path to salvation or a mistranslation of Forerunner glyphs" Angela finally stated what everyone was thinking.

Many crew members began to voice their disdain at the fact that that last 3 decades were literally for a LIE. The Covenant believed in a lie their leaders cooked up and now they were paying the price.

"Well, that's…" Curtis didn't even know what to say. Even the AIs were at a loss. Their as one thing bugging him however. "Changing topics, you said there was a conflict here?"

"Yes." Defiance began "My creators preserved samples of the Flood in the hopes a cure, similar to the one your ancestors found, could be created. However, the two surviving Forerunners who stayed on this world with me, Builder Embracing-Darkness-Of-Night and Lifeworker Eternal-Light-Of-Dawn, tried to find a cure in the years after the array firing yet came up with nothing. Dawn set about making sure life would be prosperous in its new form while Darkness…...the work consumed him. He became obsessed to the point he tried to harm Dawn who tried to stop one of his…new weapons. Dawn was placed in a Stasis pod to heal while Darkness continued his work. You saw the results on the way in"

Solara spoke up. "That biomatter, the massive fleshy constructs… it can't all can't be…"

"Flood biomass" Defiance finished for her. "Darkness was consumed in his lab at the center of this installation and now a Keymind as formed."

"Keymind?" Curtis asked, knowing he was going to regret the answer.  
"What come form the Flood consuming the Biomass of an entire world." Defiance explained, mush to the crew's discomfort. "Luckily, he had a large platoon of Prometheans and Sentinels stationed on this installation which I have been using to stave off the parasite, to little avail. I am afraid there is no hope for this world but luckily the Flood has no means of escape as I destroyed the only Slipspace capable vessel on the planet." He responded cheerily. "All we have to do now is evacuate Dawn's stasis pod and the planet will commence self termination protocols and pull itself into the star it orbits."

"Wait, Dawn is still alive!?" Angela asked.

"A still living Forerunner?! And a Lifeworker no less!" Kalmiya was also excited. "Oh how Dr. Halsey would have loved this revelation."

"Umm, are we ALL forgetting something?" Allison asked as everyone turned to face her. "Because I assume you all remember the Assault carrier that chased us here in the first place"

A look of dread washed over the crew as Defiance flew up to Allison.

"A second vessel!? In flood-controlled space!?" Defiance screeched, his eye glowing crimson "We are doomed!"

"No, we are not!" Curtis slammed his fist down on the Holotable "Pull yourself together Defiance. Because right now, we need you if we are going to pull this off."

"Pull off what?!" Defiance asked in desperation. "If the Flood escape than the fate of this world will be inconsequential!"

"Then we have to make sure that it doesn't escape." Curtis reaffirmed. "This ship is equipped to take on a CAS, is it not?"

People turned to the 3 AIs. Valkyr spoke up. "Yes. This vessel, even without its upgrades, can destroy a CAS with little effort." She then added. "If we had more of them, maybe the war would have gone better."

"Then all we have to do is Destroy the damn CAS." Curtis stated.

Everyone seemed to agree until Sandra raised her voice. "Umm, does anyone even know where it is right now?"

"I can remedy that!" Defiance added. "I just need to know the vessel's profile." The ONI AI Charon quickly pulled up an image of a CAS on the Holotable. "Thank you." He began to scan the planet before freezing. "Oh my. That's not good."

"What is it?" Curtis asked

Defiance showed a holoscreen. "Well it appears the vessel set about burning away all flood biomass it could see and angered the parasite into attacking. The vessel was heavily damage and rendered inoperable but repairable." The Holoprojection showed a red dot near the inner core "The flood has moved it to Darkness's old laboratory to repair it."

Curtis slumped down, seemingly defeated. "Well shit." He rubbed his tired face. "And with the reactors down we can slip in but not back out, can we?"

The AI shook their heads.

Defiance looked around before he came up with an idea. "I maybe able to fix your vessel, but the amount of biomass in the inner sphere is too vast for your ship to maneuver. However, my sensor detect another smaller vessel aboard this one"

Miranda stood up. "The _Winter_! I almost forgot about it. It can easily do the damage we need."

"Its loaded out like a heavy fighter." Hudson pointed out.

Miranda held up a finger. "But…it can launch nukes. And we happen to have 7 of the most powerful bombs known to the UNSC onboard."

"HAVOCs?" Allison asked.

It was Angela who answered this time. "NOVAs." Many of the ONI crew looked shocked with the normal UNSC crew were a bit lost. Angela continued. "The NOVA is out answer to Covenant glassing, beside the shaped charge nukes. Its nine fusion warheads encased in lithium triteride armor. When detonated, it compresses its fissionable material to neutron-star density, boosting the thermonuclear yield a hundredfold. It has been described as a Planet killer and the one time that it has been used, it was reported that it was like a star erupted."

"Holy shit." Allison looked at Angela like she was mad. "And we have seven!?"

"Yes, though I would assume one would be enough to destabilise the planet and buy us time into evacuating allowing the rest to self terminate itself." Angela explained.

"This assessment is correct." Defiance added. "But we have one other problem." His scanner began to show a large cluster of red dots heading towards a green dot stationed at the dry dock that they were currently in. "I have begun to detect a large Flood force heading this way. I assume they want _YOUR_ vessel as well."

Valkyr turned red. "Well they will never take the _Hornet_ from me!"

Defiance turned to the group. "I must prepare and re-enforce my forces. I urge you to the same." Another bright portal appeared, and Defiance flew into it before it closed.

The crew turned to the 501st looking for what to do. Curtis spoke up. "Well, we have two choices. 1, we simple jump out of this planet, head for Earth and hope to God that the flood doesn't fix the split chin ship. Or 2, we stand and fight out way out of this zombie infestation." The sound of pistols and SMGs being readied as Curtis smiled. He knew what they had picked. "Solara, open the intercom, ship wide." Solara nodded and did so. "All hand this is the Commander. We are about to be engaged by an unknown enemy. This enemy is unlike the Covenant, in fact is much worse, but it dies just the same and if we let it fester…both Earth and the Covenant is dead. The Covies stooped to fight and lost, now it's our turn. We defend this ship. Defend this dock! Because what we do today, could affect the rest of the Galaxy! All hands, Action Stations!"

He hit the alert as everyone, civilian, UNSC or ONI began to get ready for battle. Army, Navy, Air force and Marine units began to strap up for war as did the Civilians and ONI personnel. The Prowler Corps crew were brought to the bridge were Miranda and her second in command, Jacob Taylor, a lieutenant who was skilled in Prowler weapon operations and in hand held weapon upkeep and maintenance. He manned the guns, much to Valkyr's dismay as she and Solara set about getting the vessel set to fight. In the many hanger bays of the ship, the vast array of fighters, Bombers and gunships were being ready to head out. Tanks, jeeps, artillery trucks and more also were getting set to move out. Finally, the 501st was getting ready as they were the only ODST group among the crew. Each ODST grabbed hold of their signature weapons. Allison grabbed her two M7 /Caseless Submachine Gun and paced them on the magnetic holsters on her hips and attached her trusty M45 Tactical Shotgun onto her back. It was painted in Red and orange patterns like a phoenix with the words "Spirit of Fire" etched in white above the trigger. A Standard M11 Combat knife sat in a holster on the ODST's shoulder while on her right shoulder sat a special weapon. It was a Kukri blade that Allison had personally used on many Covenant soldiers who held the information she wanted. It had a pair of low intensity lasers on either side of the blade in the hilt that heated up the blade. The blade itself was more a last stand weapon or for interrogation than standard combat. She called it the Phoenix. Finally, she grabbed a few Napalm Grenades which hug in a belt around her waist with an ammo pack near her back.  
Next was Stacy who was readying a XBR55 battle rifle she had found and modified to her liking. Specifically, she was loading it with her own variant M634 Experimental High-Powered Semi-Armor-Piercing which held a small amount of cryogenic liquid within it that when it hit a target began to affect them even more that a normal bullet hit. It was particularly effective against Brutes who had no shields. Grunts and Jackals never could experience the feeling of being frozen form her shots as the round often killed the outright. A bandolier of specially made cryo grenade wrapped around her torso form her left shoulder that each had an icy glow. Finally, a M6G magnum hung on her right hip and a M11 combat knife sat in a boot holster.  
Angela readied a M395 DMR with a sound dampener and a Longshot sight. She normally used a SRS99-AM sniper rifle but today to took out a M99A2S3 Stanchion which she painted full black with an ONI logo on it. Finally, a M6C/SOCOM pistol on her hip and a M11 combat knife in a wrist holster for quick deployment.  
Sandra was next as she readied for the fight. She loaded up her own custom weapon, a MA5B with a longer barrel with a muzzle brake and an underslung grenade launcher. She wore a pack with medical kits for her allies and had a few syringes filled with acid and deadly viruses for her enemies. A belt of launcher grenades that held deadly poison gas hung form her belt and a normal M6C magnum on her right hip and a Humbler stun device on her left.  
Then came Hudson who was not picky with his weapons. A M739 Light Machine Gun and a M41 SPNKR rocket launcher with a M6D on his hip and a pair of heavy custom brass knuckles built into his Airborne-ODST armour gloves.  
Finally, there was Curtis. A suppressed BR55 was in his hands and a M6D on his right hip and on his left... hung his prized possession, a Covenant Type-1 Energy sword. It hilt was ordained in Forerunner glyphs etched in gold and silver. Its twin curved plasma blade was blood red rather than fusion plus as the blade had a unique feature in that it stole blood form a victim and mixed it in with the plasma rather than just use a special gas in that plasma process like other blood blades. It sometimes turned Light blue or purple and even orange if enough blood form the respected alien was absorbed but it would always return to red quickly and it glowed brighter with each kill. It was speculated that it was made only to kill humans and that why it glowed red. His final weapon, a gift form Hannibal Weapon system rest on his back. A Prototype M6 Nonlinear Rifle, also known as a spartan laser. This one fired multiple blue beam that could home in on a target, but it ate a lot of power meaning it had only a handful of shots before the weapon needed to recharge.  
With these weapons in hand the 501st head outside with the rest of the soldiers who would fight on the ground. Outside the massive vessel on the silver metal and blue hard light walkways of the dry dock, the UNSC troops ran into Defiance and his troops. They were hulking humanoid AI constructs that glowed a creepy, orange, red or blue. Some variant were seen, such a more human looking variant, a dog type variant and a flying variant. These were escorted by several silver and gray robots. Some were small and flew towards the _Hornet_ itself, while the medium and larger ones seem to be taking place in the defence.

"Greeting Reclaimers." Defiance looked at them all "I see you are most prepared for combat, yet most of your weapons tell me you have never fought anything like the flood. The one who use plasma..." he looked at the UNSC and Civilian troops who grabbed the wide array of plasma weapons and Covenant vehicles in the ship to battle with. "Are more set but all you weapons such be effective at least as killing a current combat form and any infection forms. The rest will be up to your vehicles and your vessel."

Off in the distance, several loud unholy screeches could be heard as what could only be described as a wave of fast moving zombie like monsters began to advance on their position.

"Everyone take positions and get ready" Curtis placed his helmet on his head and the visor polarized. "We are once again at war."

 **End of part two...**

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	6. Battle of Shield 56-B

**Chapter 4 Part 3**

 **Battle of Shield 56-B**

Shield Installation 56-B North East Quadrant, September 1,2552

That chatter of automatic weapons fire. The teeth rattling boom of a tanks main gun firing. The gut shaking report of a Gauss cannon round leaving it barrel. The hiss of plasma burning flesh. The crackle of fire charring bones. These were the sound that filled the air around the Drydock and resting place of the Last Living Forerunner Lifeworker as the UNSC and the Forerunner Promethean forces began to wage war against the massive flood horde the threatened to over run the last free location on the planet.  
A squad of Navy troopers armed with M6 Nonlinear rifles set up in a musket lien of sorts and began to unleash hell with the powerful laser the weapon fired as the troops who fired fell back as the fresh troops charged up their shots making them rapid fire the beams ripping through large swaths of flood forms.  
An army M808B Scorpion tank rolled up and began to shell the large numbers of pod infectors and carrier forms that attempted to rush the defences with its main 90mm high velocity cannon and its coaxial machine gun. The gunner had loaded High explosive and it proved to be _very_ effective against the undead monsters. The tanks also had several Airborne troopers ridding on its tread tops to proved close fire support with their rapid fire MA37 ARs.

Another Scorpion, this one a M808B2 Sun Devil operated by the Air Force with it two twin linked 40mm autocannons pushed through the large waves of Combat forms and even Pure forms a sit ripped the to shreds as two Marine M808Cs with the 105mm gun fired canister shots into the flood, acting like massive shotguns. These marine tanks were backed up with Marine rifle men and a few of what Defiance had referred to as 'Crawlers', a dog like Promethean combat AI that with had an effect semi auto weapon, a full auto weapon or what could only be described as a Disintegrator sniper rifle that was the Alpha of the pack and the one the Marine began to love as it dropped combat forms left and right leaving no corpse and I didn't miss. This battle group left a blood wake in their path as they pushed back a larger group of infected but just as they could push up, the Flood would push them back, neither side getting the upper hand. The UNSC had the fire power to hold them back. The Flood had unending numbers. And even with their firepower, the flood took its pound of flesh

A Flood transport form rammed a UNSC controlled Type-48 Light Assault Gun Carriage or Revenant and 'ate' the driver and passenger before hopping off and launching two flood dispersal pods as a group of Promethean Knights unleashing the now infected marines who ripped the AI constructs apart with bone sword sin the hands and gaping serrated jaws. It then grabbed another army solider who was trying desperately to escape the tendrils that ensnared him but couldn't and was pulled inside the hulking beast. But he was not dead. He struggled and thrashed in the strange thick liquid he found himself in, it was not acid, but he didn't want to know what it was. Suddenly a tendril with a sharp class rose up out of the gunk and stabbed him in his gut. The pain was excruciating, but it he was not dead. He soon began to feel it. A burning feeling followed by a sensation as if something was sliding around beneath his skin. He cried out as he felt his muscles tear and bones snap. He cried out for help as strange unknown greenish veins began to grow on his skin. His eyes began to rot, he screams cut off as 3 tendrils burst froth form his gullet as a pod form was created form his own biomass and began to assert control. He was not dead. He found himself unable to move himself, as the creature didn't want to kill him. No, it _wanted_ him alive as it ripped into his memories, his thoughts, everything useful. Eventually what could be denoted as his consciousness was forced to the back of the mind as the flood took over, the newly created combat form was spat out and unleash upon his former allies. And yet he was still not dead, but he screamed to anyone that could hear him that he wished he was. His only response was a cold menacing laugh from beyond.  
UNSC Shortswords unleashed waves of napalm bombs that burned the flood hordes and slowed them down as Rhino Plasma tanks and UNSC controlled Wraiths began to bombard the area with heavy plasma fire to hold them back until the ground forces began to deplete...but the Flood had one last trick. Heavy thud like footsteps could be heard as over the wall of fire a column of massive beasts began to lumber forward.

Curtis who had been fighting with Defiance turned to look at the creatures. "What the heck is that!?"

"That reclaimer," Defiance started. "are the abominations. Large powerful Keymind like forms that act like a commander or general to all local flood forces. And I see 25 of them."

Stacy ran up, her armour covered in decayed Flood blood. "Sandra and Allison have set up a trap for those things, but it can only slow them down. We need heavier firepower."

"And you cannot bring your aircraft in as they have the reach to grab such craft. I have lost 17 Despair-class hunter-killer craft to those monsters." Defiance stated.

"Despair class?" Curtis asked just as a pair of heavy ion beam and hard light home projectiles showered the earth near a pair of two new experimental UNSC heavy weapon platforms listed as the M510 Mammoth. The fighters were curved and sleek in design. "Never mind. I Can guess."

Defiance turned from looking at the fighter to Curtis "Tell me you have more powerful weapons o your vessel reclaimer."

"We can't fire the _Hornet_ 's weapons at this range, we will kill our own guys!" Curtis explained.

"But your point defence cannons are insufficient!" Defiance shot back.

A random marine ran up "What about the Scarab?"

Curtis turned to him. "The WHAT?!" He honestly refused to believe that one of the Covenant's most powerful ground vehicle was sitting in his ship

The marine continued. "The boys and I found a Scarab in the ship. It looks like one of the smaller ones but it looks modified with the Human battle plating and it was one that had the top side Plasma gun but that's gone, replaced with heavy ground missiles. But it main gun still works."

Curtis thought about it. "Get it out here and see if anyone if we can pull a few of the Colossus mechs back to her to support it. They are about the same size as those fuckers maybe they can knock them off balance for the Scarab to hit it."

"Sir, yes sir!" He saluted and ran off to do so.

"We got to hold them off until we can get that Covie walker out here!" Curtis unholstered his Spartan Laser, the Light of Sol. "Ok, lets see what this baby can do!" He held down the trigger as it began to charge with a much deeper whine that a normal laser. It charged up time was also taking longer but the red targeting laser began to burn flood forms before the main beams were even ready. Finally, the whine hit it apex and Curtis released the trigger and unleashed hell. 5 blueish-white beams ripped out of the laser and smashed into the forward most Abomination ripping its upper torso apart and annihilated it a large explosion.

Defiance paused for a moment before looking at the weapon and an equally stunned Curtis. "I take back everything I said about your weapons not being up to the task."

"Well let's be fair." Curtis began to snap out of his stupor. "I don't think anyone was expecting that."

However, while one abomination had been destroyed, that still left 24 more ready to enter the field of battle and while a spartan laser held 4 shots, the Light of Sol only had 2.  
A was out near the wall of fire, Allison and Sandra were hard at work on their trap, a bomb comprised of Napalm and Acid. As Allison was busy wiring up the bombs Sandra was...admiring the flood forms lumbering towards them and the few smaller ones dumb enough to try cross the wall of flames only to be melted by the extreme heat.

"They are rather beautiful, in a twisted way, aren't they?" Sandra asked in her normal cute manner.

Allison sighed. She knew Sandra was fascinated by diseases and stuff, but she always found it creepy. "Well it's kind of incredible a parasite can create a fucking bioweapon thing like those lumbering monsters." She connected another primer to the bomb "However, they seem rather... well dumb."

"Defiance said they gain knowledge form what that assimilate." Sandra stated. "A super cell of such adaptability..."

"You are NOT taking any samples of this shit." Allison glared at her.

"Oh hush, I am not dumb enough to try and use it as a weapon, or have you forgotten I have an antivirus to every plague I carry." Sandra stated. "And to be honest, I think curing this is beyond me, but, its DNA coding... I feel their may be something useful in it would could use against it. If not a cure, then an immunity at bare minimum."

"Your really think you could pull that off?" Allison asked as she finished up

"It maybe possible." Sandra stated. "I actually already have small samples that I can work with. I rather not have anything that could get loose on the ship."

Allison smirked form under her helmet. "That's what I love about you. You are a mad scientist, but you are not fully insane."

Sandra pouted at her. "I am NOT a mad scientist. I am just passionate about my work in the medical field."  
Allison chuckled for a bit at this until she heard a noise. She turned to her right only to be blindsided by a pair of pod infection forms jumping at her. She hit one off to the side but the second wrapped around her neck and tried to borrow under her BDU and armour plates. A quick AR burst form Sandra however got it off her as Allison pulled Phoenix out of its holster and slashed the second one that tried to jump her again, killing it.

"This zone is getting too hot." Allison flicked her kukri to get the flood juices off of it as she holstered it. "The big guys are almost here anyways, let's bail."

Sandra nodded and the two left as the abominations began to lumber over the wall of napalm fueled fire, putting it out as their massive appendages snuffed out the flame under tons of biomass with each step, approaching the bomb laid out by the two ODSTs. They soon crossed over as the forward three cross over the bomb, Allison detonated it. A Large explosion of flames and acid burned and melt away biomass as the abominations roared out in pain. The one leading the charge fell it its 'knees' as its 'leg' melted away for the powerful acid Sandra used, decaying bone and rotten tendons exposed as the sickly yellow green 'blood' of the creature was exposed as the acid ate away at it form. Another was completely drenched in Napalm and was engulfed in flames and began to moan in pain. The third was only semi burned but concentrated fire form Wraith's and Rhino's slowly but surely brought it down. The other 21 began to march in unopposed as they path was making an opening for the other smaller combat forms. The UNSC and Prometheans began to prepare for the onslaught about to be unleash when the sound of heavy mechanical footsteps was heard as Scarab came into view. It had a form like the Type 47A which was practically only killable with a MAC gun, was faster like the 47B which was more maneuverable, but its main gun is what drew attention as even with the UNSC modifications, it was the gun of a Type 29 which had the most powerful focus cannon. The UNSC modified cannon seemed to have a blueish-which glow form the barrel as the heavy Titanium-A battle plate which make it look so mean and the older Ares Missile pods on the top near the back. The Scarab was the UNSC's attempt to make one machine out of several part form multiple wreaks. Flanking the four-legged death machine were four Colossus mechs. Each one armed with a heavy railgun and an autocannon and they stood about as tall as the scarab. They themselves were flanked by several HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark II [D] Armor Defense System or Mega-Mantis mechs. Their 105mm heavy Gatling cannon and missile launchers were much more powerful than the standard 20mm guns on the Mk IX Mantis or the autocannon used on the Mk III M1 Cyclops mechs. The Scarab stopped before the abomination and screeched. That made the UNSC forces cringe. It was known that Scarabs are controlled by Hunter worms, and they only do certain things, like screeching, if under hunter worm control. Yet the Machine made no move against the UNSC forces. Instead Hudson and the marine from before stood on top of the mech near it's front. They both waved at the abomination which seemed to get the new lead monster's attention. It turned to face them...and promptly was greeted by 4 M19 102mm surface-to-surface missiles courtesy of the two M41 SPNKR Rocket launchers they welded. It staggered back as the Scarab charged its main focus cannon and unleashed a massive beam of burning energy. The beam melted though the rotting flesh of the abominations in a pure straight lien of death as the Colossuses and Mega-Mantis's ripped into any who tried to escape. The gap in the wall of flames was covered back up by additional bombing runs by UNSC bombers and the remaining local flood force was driven back by Longswords and Kodiak artillery.

Curtis surveyed the area and had his troops form a defensive line near the flames in case anything tried to get over it. UNSC fighters and anti aircraft vehicles roamed the skies looking for something dumb enough to try and come in from above. He holstered his weapon as it only had one more shot left in it before it needed to recharge. "What's our headcount?"

Angela came to him. "14 dead and 27 wounded but not infected."

"We are lucky no one was infected while wounded." Curtis stated.

Angela place her hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "I listed those who were infected _in_ the dead category as they had to be put down."

Curtis looked devastated to think men under his command were turned into one of those monsters. He also knew if they didn't destroy that Carrier, then this could be seen all across the Galaxy. He and his team hopped on a M650 Mastodon APC and headed back to the _Hornet_ as Defiance instead made the driver take them into the main structure of the dry dock.  
"Where are we going?" Stacy asked

"We are going...to meet my maker." Defiance stated as the Heavy vehicle thundered along inside the base. It soon came to a stop near a storage room of sorts. "This way please."

The six ODSTs followed him out of the APC and into the large structure has Sentinels and Prometheans began to move boxes and weapons.

"I ain't complaining but are we really taking all these things back with us?" Hudson asked as he watched an Enforcer carried a large crate. "ONI is going to throw a fit."

"Ya well, aside form our friends, FUCK ONI." Curtis exclaimed as they entered a large chamber. In this chamber were several pod that seemed to be stasis pod. Sentinel constructors were disassembling many of them for unknown purposes as Defiance came up to the one pod that was activated, red energy lien running down its sides and face. A Lone clear port was there for him to look inside and see, a Forerunner in a silver fully body armour with blue glowing highlights along the edges of the interlinking armour plates.

Angel a looked at the figure with an amazed expression. "An actual forerunner."

"Yes, and my personnel Creator." Defiance spoke with pride and respect. Part of him hated the Forerunners, but the Life workers were the exception. "She is wearing a modified warrior-servant combat skin due to the nature of the previous tests she and Darkness preformed."

"Umm, I just have to ask, why didn't you wake her up yourself and just leave?" Allison asked.

"I can't wake her up." Defiance stated. "I am not able to interface with the system thanks to Darkness's tinkering. That is why I need you Reclaimers. A Unit such as myself cannot do it, but you can!"

"Ok then" Curtis looked at the pod. "How do we do this then?"

Defiance flew over to a small panel which flipped up and showed a large sphere like holo-interface. "Simply place your hand on this interface."

Curtis slowly came up to the interface and placed his hand on the console. The console glowed a bright blue and suddenly disappeared as the pod began to let out jets of coolant a sit began to power down. It rose to an up-right position as the armor plate began to shift. The soon opened up, reveling what, or more accurately who, was inside. The figure slowly began to stir. A slight twitch of the fingers of one hand. The quiet groans of one who had just awoken could be heard through the helmet as the figure awoke. It turned to look at the 501st then up at Defiance.

"Welcome back Creator!" Defiance happily exclaimed. "You have been asleep for a long time but, good news!" He floated over to Curtis and the others "Our efforts were not in vain! The Reclaimers found us!"

Curtis and the rest of the group began to take off their helmets revealing their faces as Curtis walked up to the pod. "It's nice to meet you ma'am. I am Curtis Fletcher of the UNSC 501st ODST battalion." He was unsure of how to talk to an ancient being. Then again, who _did_?

The being grabbed the sides of the pod and pulled herself out of it. She stood taller than Curtis, but a quick observation showed she was actually hovering a bit off the ground in which she was about Curtis's height. Suddenly, the plates of her helmet began to fold away revealing a young, almost human like face. She had a long flowing white hair and kind eyes. "Greetings, Curtis Fletcher. I am Eternal-Light-Of-Dawn, Lifeworker of the Forerunner Ecumene." She smiled at him. "I have waited a long time to meet you Reclaimer."

 **End of Part 3...**

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	7. Under a Nuclear Sun

**Chapter 4 part 4**

 **Under a Nuclear sun...**

Shield Installation 56-B Northeast Drydock, September 2, 2552

Silence. Stunned silence. That was the lone sound minus the quiet hum of Defiance's repulsor lifts that filled the stasis chamber. Dawn looked at the stunned humans and wondered if she had done of said something wrong as the humans looked at her wide eyed.

"Umm, are you ok?" Dawn asked approaching Curtis who began to snap out his stupor.

"Oh, ya!" He tried to brush it off. "I am sorry about that. It just...well...meeting you is definitely one for the record books."

"Me?" Dawn seemed confused in a rather innocent way. "I am just a Lifeworker. There is nothing special about me."

"Your joking, right?" Angela asked, her normal calm demeanor cracking. "You are a Forerunner Lifeworker! Your work is vastly important!"

Dawn let out a chuckle. "True. My work was quite vital in the war to try and cure or make an immunity to the flood but to my great dismay, my efforts were in vain for the most part."

Curtis looked at her with a hopeful expression. "But you _tried_ , and that is the important part about it."

Dawn smiled at him. "How I missed the optimism of humans. The ability to find hope in the darkest moments. I think that is one of the reasons the Lifeshaper loved your kind so much."

"To be honest, it one of the things that keep us going on." Curtis stated with a smile. "That and we are...kind of stubborn."

"What do you mean, Kind of?" Allison added.

"You hush." Curtis shut her down as the red headed ODST simply stuck her tongue out at him.

Dawn could help but laugh a bit at the immature display between the two soldiers. They acted like friends or family member rather than a military unit. "Your group seems to be quite c loosely knit."

Curtis shrugged. "We have been though a lot together. We would go to hell and back for one another."

"Of that, I can see." Dawn stated,

Defiance floated up. "I don't mean to be rude..." His eye turned red and his voice glitched a bit " _Are we forgetting that we are in a life or death situation_!?" His eye turned green again. "Apologies for the outburst."

Dawn looked confused. "Oh, you poor thing. But how did you get damaged?"

Defiance looked worried, which was unusual for a robot who could not actually show emotions on its face. "Darkness ma'am! He was killed by the flood! They're was a containment breach!"

Dawn looked shocked. "How bad is it?!"

Curtis responded. "The planet is lost ma'am. The whole thing is covered in flood biomass."

Dawn looked absolutely horrified, almost to the point were the 501st wondered if she had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from dealing with the Flood. PTSD was nothing new, most of the UNSC soldiers in active service had it but most tried to get around it. They couldn't just stop fighting. They couldn't. We needed soldiers. Entire systems fell, we need soldiers. You just had to suck it up and keep fighting. You cured yourself by killing Covies. From Harvest to Reach, you had to just keep fighting. We were not the Innies who up and ran. We were the UNSC. We stood...and fought. We wanted to run. But we stood. We fought. Because we had nothing else to run to. The 501st all had it as well and as they saw Dawn having a mental break form knowing the Flood was loose...it reminded them of their own mental breaks. The loss of the _Spirit of Fire_ and her mother abandoning her on Reach for Allison. The Invasion of Arcadia and being chased by blood thirsty Brutes and Jackals for Stacy. The Murder of her family by Elites for Angela. The invasion and Glassing of Algolis for Sandra. The attack on the UNSC _Olympic_ colony ship for Hudson. Curtis...Curtis keep his first experience hidden but he two had dealt with the Covenant. He looked an Brute Chieftain in the eye as he killed his family before him, save his sisters who were not home at the time, before he got away and was rescued by a group of marines known as the 501st. Later, after joining the UNSC Curtis would learn the 501st was wiped out when the ship they were on the _Heart of Midlothian_ was lost on-route to planet Algolis. Upon becoming an ODST after years of service in the UNSC Air force special Forces, he took up the name of the 501st again as a reminder of those who had saved him. Soon he would have joined with the rest of his soon to be new family.  
The ODSTs knew Dawn's pain, as Curtis came up and placed a hand on her shoulder as she turned to look him in the eye, fear and pain was all he could see behind those once bright kind eyes. He pulled her into a hug as he consoled her. She broke down in his arms as he held her. He understood her pain. He was going to get her out of this living hell.

"Dawn?" Curtis spoke to the distraught Forerunner "Dawn listen to me." She looked at him. "We can stop the flood. We and end them but we need to get you out of here and to somewhere safe. We have a ship docked outside, and we are going to get you on it and then we are going to get out of here."

"But if the flood escape on a ship..." Dawn started before Curtis cut her off.

"They have one ship, but it is damaged. We are going to go in and destroy it, then this world." Curtis reassured her.

Dawn looked up at him. "Ok." It was all she could say. She believed him, but she was too worried to think straight at the moment.

The 501st lead her out to the waiting Mastodon and boarded it quickly as the driver headed back to the _Hornet_. Once outside, Dawn saw the horror of the situation. The Flood was _everywhere_. The shield installation had fallen. She watched as UNSC bomber layer wave after wave of napalm bombs creating a thick wall of fire between the ship and the Flood who burned with every bomb dropped. Humans and Prometheans were both boarding the large dark grey ship before her, with the bombers and fighters being the lasts ones aboard as her transport also drove up a boarding ramp and into one of the ships many vehicle bays. All vehicles weather a walker, car or tank was scanned and scoured upon re-entry of the ship to make sure the biomass wouldn't infect the vessel and the ventilation was being circulated and filtered to keep flood spores out. Hellbringers waited by the doors with NA4 and M7057 flamethrowers in full gear to help keep the ship flood free. The UNSC may have just encountered this parasitic menace but is was not going to let it abuse that knowledge. Soon everyone was back onboard as Curtis noticed some... modifications. Mainly the strange panels on the hallways.

"Defiance" Curtis turned to the green glowing monitor. "The heck are these things?"

"Sentinel launchers." Defiance stated plainly. "Due to the abandonment of this facility, I felt it best to remove all necessary hardware and install it aboard you ship if possible. Lucky your vessel already had sufficient manufacturing facilities that I upgraded by disassembling the sentinel manufacturing facility. Unfortunately, one technology I was unable to salvage in time to the Slipspace gates and Translocation network."

"So, we get automated AI defence drones, but not...what's Translocation?" Allison asked.

"A teleportation grid." Defiance explained. "Due to my connection to your vessel I have explored your culture's visual media. To quote an old science fiction program, It's a transporter."

"Damn, we could have had beaming tech!?" Allison looked a bit disappointed.

"I have schematics." Defiance added, much to Allison and Angela surprise. "They will be difficult to implement with just those alone however."

"Trust us Lightbulb." Stacy remarked. "We are a stubborn people. UNSC ships will have beaming tech by hell or high water."

"... _Call me a lightbulb again and I will roast you._ " Defiance stated, his eye red. Stacy was not fazed as while he probably could do that, he was just not threatening.

After a series of tram rides and an elevator lift to the bridge, they soon arrived on the bridge were Miranda and the other stood at attention.

"Welcome back, Commander." Miranda stated. "We have been getting ready to head out."

Curtis nodded and took his center seat. "Get us airborne and raise the shields to maximum. I don't want one single flood form to get aboard this ship."

The crew saluted and set about their orders. The hulking UNSC starship too off into the skies, its Fusion-Repulsor engines burning bright as it lumbered into the foul air of the shield world. The ship began to charge its slipspace capacitors as it drives warmed up to tear the universe a new one, but not to escape, no... the _Hornet_ still had a job to do. It just had to get closer. The bright swirling portal of slipspace opened up before them and the Punic entered it swiftly. As it did it also quickly exited back inside the planet but now in the Innermost layer of the planet. The air was thick with flood spores. Biomass stretched up from the central former satellite to the inner surface making traveling hard for the large ship. Up on the bridge all was smooth sailing until the Helmsman began to clutch his head in pain.

The navigation officer stood up. "The heck is wrong with hi..." He stopped and fell to his knees as he two felt the same pain. Others fell as well, even the AIs felt it. It was not just the bridge. The whole ship heard this voice. Yes, a voice is what it was. It was old, ancient and terrifying.

" **Children of the Librarian, why have you come?** " The voice spoke to the minds of all aboard " **Coming here speaks of your willingness to die for a greater purpose. Yet I know this to be false, so why come to me?** "

Dawn was the lone being who could stand against it. "To finally beat you, foul parasite!" She screamed at it. "To finally rid the universe of your filth!"

The voice laughed a deep laugh that seemed to vibrate around the whole ship in real space. " **Eternal-Light-Of-Dawn, how good to see you are alive. Adding you to my collective will be most beneficial.** "

Curtis stood up, albeit with some difficulty and spoke against the voice. "No way in hell are you getting Dawn."

The voice growled " **Humans. An annoying, primitive race. You shall be food. And your vessel shall transport me to find more.** "

"Just try and take this ship from me!" Curtis shot back.

" **As you wish!** " The voice released it hold on the crew as everyone began to get back up. As they did, the sensors pick up movement.

"Contact detected!" Valkyr showed as the ship moved to battle stations. "Bearing is 8,000km from our port bow. It's the CAS, sir."

"Good. Prep the _Winter_ " Curtis ordered as the _Hornet_ turned to bring its weapons to bear on the approaching vessel. "Angela, you have the conn." He got up to head down to the prowler as the ONI agent took the center chair.

The CAS was completely converted. Its once smooth exterior now coved fully in thick Flood biomass that in turn gave it thicker armour. It whole forms was changed and looked more like a massive flood form. Tendrils hung off the back of its body near its repulsor engines. A thick tendril reached up and over and connected to the topside plasma line. As the CAS moved up that tendril pulsated with energy feeding it into the plasma line directly. A sickly greenish-yellow overcharged beam of plasma shot out of the flood ship and smashed into the side of the _Hornet_ with great force.

"Shields down to 67 percent!" Solara shouted as Allison and Valkyr manned the weapon and ruptured fire. Two super MAC rounds fired and slammed into the bow of the vessel ripping into its shields and into its hull. However, while the new CR-03 Series 8 MACs were powerful, the extra flood biomass and the areas no longer needed by the parasite made the ship much tougher and thus it survived, albeit with two massive holes in its prow. Its fired again, its beam raking along the side of the Punic as it launched dozens of Plasma torpedoes. The overcharged plasma projectiles plus the beam dropped the shields and the A3 battleplate was being put to the test as the torpedoes slammed into the ships repeatedly. The massive Punic needed to take out that CAS's main gun and fast or it was going to be destroyed. The great ship lumbered up and over the Assault carrier, a move normally seen as suicide as it put it in the direct line of fire of the plasma line but a shot from the _Hornet_ 's starboard plasma line managed to disable the tendril feeding extra power to the main beam. This however didn't take out the beam as it fired at normal strength, but this was still sufficient to rip into several layers of armour and breach the ship near its Reactor room. The _Hornet_ fired one last beam as it passed over this one taking out the slipspace drive but the Carrier was still operational as the UNSC ship limped away at best possible sped while it used Sentinels and shields to keep out the Flood spores near the breach. While this was going on Curtis had left the bridge and headed down to one of the _Hornet_ 's vertical launch bays to the UNSC _Winter_ The experimental new prowler. The area was low gravity, so he had to use magnetic boots plus full environmental suit as the hanger was always considered a hazard for anyone not in a suit rated for vacuum. Upon reach in the ship and boarding it he was welcomed with the sight of clean walls and a rather decent interior for a prowler/Heavy starfighter. He removed his helmet and hitched it on his belt as he ran for the bridge were on a Holotank stood Charon.

"Ready to depart Commander?" The AI asked dully.

"Where is the rest of the _Winter_ 's crew?" Curtis asked as he took seat in the Captain's chair.

"Due to the risk of this mission, I felt it best if we did this alone." Charon explained. "This vessel can easily be piloted and manned by myself alone."

"Ya, well I am not letting you do this alone." Curtis stated. "Take us out."

Charon nodded and complied. The massive Titanium doors of the launch bay opened up and the void of space was seen below. The massive magnetic docking clamps released the hull of the smaller ship and it 'fell' thanks to artificial gravity out of the bay and into open space. Charon had to maneuver the _Winter_ as large chunks of Titanium A and Biomass infested Nanolaminate plate was in the way as the _Hornet_ and the Flood Assault carrier duked it out in the skies. The _Winter_ turned in towards the center mass of the Flood Shield world. As it did however, the Voice came back.

" **Impudent creature and rudimentary ancilla** " The Voice growled at them as Both Curtis and Charon tried to block it out. " **You will both be torn apart by my will and will be reformed apart of my collective!** "

The Prowler came up next to a massive pulsating ball of Biomass that was once the former Central satellite, a Large bay full of dead Covenant denoting were the CAS was assimilated. The flesh of the Facility began to shift as a truly massive figure began to take shape.

Charon looked up at the beats, an honest look of horror etched on her face. "What...is that!?"

" **I?** " The Voice now came form the beast before them. " **I am a monument. Of all sins. The sins of the Forerunners, the sins of Humanity and the sins of the Precursors and more. I bear the sins of millions, for I am millions. Millions of minds, millions of souls, millions of voices, all rest within my grave.** "

Curtis looked at the beast though the window of the _Winter_. "You like the sound of your own voice, don't you? So, what DO I call you?"

" **Ignorant creature of flesh and blood, I was once known...as Embracing-Darkness-Of-Night but now...I have long since surpassed that lone frail form of flesh into something more!** " The now named Darkness answered.

"So, you're the fucker who hurt Dawn." Curtis stated, looking angry "Well now I have even more reasons to kill you."

" **Kill me?** " The creature laughed " **Kill ME!?** " It laughed even louder " **That puny vessel is going to kill ME?! I am a GOD compared to you human!** " Curtis began to feel Darkness tear into his mind, as if he physically had a hold of him. Blood began to run out of his nose...and his tear ducts as the monster psychically tortured him. Curtis screamed in agony but managed to get to his feet and reach the weapon console. He typed in his approval and turned to Charon.

"Launch the missile now!" He yelled with the last of his strength before he fell to the ground writhing in pain.

Charon acted fast, with the missile's safeties now removed she had full access to the most powerful weapon in the Human-Covenant war. "Hey Asshole!" The Keymind Darkness turned to lean down close to the tiny stealth corvette that it could easily swallow whole. "Get the fuck away form my Commander!" She fired the NOVA, the massive missile flying down the open mouth of the creature and its fusion thrust engine burned away its insides as it flew further in, the warhead being set on a short timer. The _Winter_ Closed its missile bay and flew back to the _Hornet_ which had suffered some serious damage. Large chunks of armour were melted through, most of the secondary fusion engines were not operational and large swaths of weapons on its port side had been destroyed. The CAS was worse off. The was barely flying and was not about t fire back as the UNSC ship was out of range of the few remaining weapons it had as the prowler docked back with the massive ship, and a medical team was dispatched to go help down below as Curtis was hurt.

Angela looked at the timer for the Nova detonation, 30, seconds left. "Can we jump?"

Solara and Valkyr looked shocked. "The ship's drives have been damaged! Yes they _can_ jump but we don't know were we will end up!"

20 seconds. "Its now or never! Emergency slipspace jump!" Angela shouted.

Outside, the massive Punic turned to starboard away form the CAS as a massive swirling blueish-black portal appeared before it as the _Hornet_ retreated into it. Just as it was almost fully inside...the NOVA detonated. The blast was like a small star erupted within the central satellite, the shock wave of which managed to crash into the _Hornet_ just as it entered fully, and the portal closed behind it. Shield 56-B, the CAS Assault carrier _Embracing Salvation_ and Embracing-Darkness-Of-Night, the mad Forerunner builder were all incinerated. The planets outer and armoured surface bulked and shattered due to the impact but all parts were dragged into the star it orbited, causing said star to supernova, destroying the Flood in this sector once and for all.

Geosynchronous lunar orbit of Unknown Planet, September 3, 2552

The vastness of space was cold, dark... quiet. As the peaceful garden world turned below as it pale silent satellite orbited above. Suddenly the calm was interrupted by a Large blueish-black tear in the fabric of reality emerged near this moon, spitting out a Large damaged dark gray ship into the debris field of the moon's shattered side. The vessel turned and spun as it tried to gain control and thankfully it finally did so. Now this new vessel hung over the garden world below, its only location for salvation after its ordeal. Little did its crew know of what would entail from setting foot on its surface.

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	8. Remnants of the Past

**Chapter 5**  
 **Remnants of the past**

Geosynchronous Orbit over Unidentified M-Class Planet, Orion Arm, September 3,2552

The battle...was over. The _Hornet_ lazily flew threw the void above a beautiful garden world that was not on any UNSC charts or database. The UNSC ship orbited as the crew tried in vain to repair the damage it had sustained. The CAS has wreaked the slipspace drive and the blast wave had not helped. The drive was now irreparably damaged without a proper dockyard. The cooling systems were shot to the plasma weapons once running hot had melted their housing and several of the weapons were now inoperable. Small fires burned on multiple decks as crew extinguished them manually as fire suppression system was offline. Long story short, the _Hornet_ was a wreck and it needed to land. This was complicated by one fact about the garden world.

"What do you mean it's inhabited?!" Allison asked the two AI on the Holotable as the bridge crew had gathered around to discuss what to do.

Solara pulled up a line of code representing a signal. "Powerful radio signals are emanating form the planet below, indicative of life. However, it is obviously not UNSC or insurrectionist or Covenant as no Exoatmospheric craft or structures can be detected."

"A pre-space flight civilization?" Angela pondered

Solara nodded "Its seems to be looking that way, yes."

"Knowing the UNSC track record for peaceful first contacts, I say we bug out." Stacy stated what most people were thinking.

"We can't just leave." Miranda stated. "The ship can barely maintained orbit alone travel to another habitable planet. We have to land."  
Angela just looked at the Holotable. "Uninhabited." Everyone turned to her. "Look at these life sign readings. They are located in 5 major groups and several smaller groups."

"Only 5 major settlements?" Allison looked confused. "Even the most distant outer colonies had more than that."

"Exactly." Angela stated. "There seems to be something keeping them form explaining their borders." She pointed to the southern and largest continent. "There is a large mountain plateau that has high elevation and no one around except for a few small villages around the base a good distance away from the southernmost settlement and its outlying territory. Its big enough to hold a small fleet of CSOs and thus perfect to hold the _Hornet_ and any additional facilities we build"

"Additional facilities?" Dawn asked. "You sound like you are planning to stay"

Angela sighed. "Defiance?" The monitor turned to her "Even with the constructors, how long will it take to get the ship's drive repaired and get us back to Earth."

"Without proper shipbuilding facilities? A Minimum of 4 solar cycles, not counting the rest of the vessel's damage." Defiance stated.

"So, we are stuck here for 4 years." Allison slumped back in her seat. "Well shit."

"Reach has Fallen!" Hudson exclaimed. "Earth doesn't _have_ four more years!"

"I know, but we have no other options!" Angela shot back "The _Hornet_ is stuck and even if we used the _Winter_ to get to Earth and get back an escort, they may just scrap the ship as she is heavily damaged and a UNSC Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine is not fast nor strong enough to tow a ship of the _Hornet_ 's size."

"So basically, we have to land, set up a colony with a shipyard and fix the ship in time to help Earth?" Allison started "Why not go the extra mile since the Constructors work fast?"

"What do you mean?" Angela asked.

"The UNSC will need time to build a fleet with the tech form the _Hornet_ but they won't have it. So why don't WE build the fleet?" Allison proposed. "We build a fleet, set it to auto pilot to Earth where they can get crewed and wham! Kiss the split chins goodbye!"

Defiance floated in "Due to the structural damage to this vessel, I could cut down repair time by just tearing it apart and making a new one. Perhaps a better one with designs form my time?"

Angela thought about it before pulling up a classified design on the Holotable. It was UNSC in nature but was over 5 kilometers long and hundreds of meters high. "How long would it take to turn the _Hornet_ into this?"

Defiance looked over the deign "Along with the various upgrade this vessel has? Three solar cycles and a few months maybe."

"And a fleet of ships of smaller but equal nature?" Angela asked

"Even less time Reclaimer. Most of the other ships may be completed before this one is." Defiance stated. "Though I will need designs and a large area to begins construction of a dock yard facility"

Angela nodded "We also need to find a way to get resources."

I actually have a solution to that." Defiance chirped. "I have 3 Retriever class sentinels in my possession aboard this vessel. They are unarmed but are meant for resource extraction and gathering. I stored them in the unoccupied underside hangers"

"Perfect!" She turned to the helmsman. "Think you can land this thing?"

He had a confident look. "Can I? Hell yes, I can! I can't say it won't be a bit bumpy however, we lost a few thrusters."  
"That is perfectly acceptable" Angela stated as she turned to the two AI. "Help him keep us stable during out decent." The both nodded and vanished. "Everyone to your stations and prepare for planetary decent!"

The hulking form of the Punic supercarrier rolled to one side slightly as the vessel began to slowly descend into the atmosphere of the world below. The slow descent helped stave off and slow any re-entry heat built up on the ship. Soon the ship was in the air of the world and was lowering down, the large mountain plateau in sight.

"Did the locals see us on our way down?" Angela asked

"If they did, I am not picking up any communications about it. The time seems to be late at night for them judging by the night sky, about...10 to 11 o clock I'd guess. And seeing as we didn't produce a re-entry heat wave and looked like a burning up asteroid, we probably escaped anyone particular interest." Miranda commented as she monitored the local radio channels.

The massive ship finally came to a stop on the empty plateau, no thing more than some trees and the occasional animal appearing on sensors. The ship had landed, in a sense a sit was still in the air, if just very low to the ground, having found a suitable area to hide the ship near a large mountain peak which Defiance has began to notice would be a perfect starting area for an underground shipyard. An area of land that more than a few CSOs could fit in laid before them, the ground was fertile, the area rich with resources. So why didn't the inhabitants of this world, who were obviously advanced enough if the radio signals were any indication, not settle here at all? It made no sense.

"All troops stand down, keep the shields up to keep out any animals who get interested in." Angela stated as she stretched, obviously tired form the ordeal they had escaped. "Everyone, you can go eat, sleep or just relax. Think we can all agree that we can begin scouting the area tomorrow."

A chorus of nods and agreeing tired murmurs were heard as other crew members got up and headed out. Hudson was making a b-line for the cafeteria, Stacy left to get a shower and was thankful the water systems were still operational. Allison had left for the med bay the Curtis and Sandra were in, so see if he was ok. Miranda, Dawn and Angela stayed on the bridge a bit longer, making sure everything was fine. The ship as a whole seemed to relax as the crew was no longer in immediate danger.

UNSC _Hornet_ Main medical bay, Deck 7, September 4, 2552, 12:01am

Curtis felt like crap, his head was spinning and felt like he had just had it knocked around by a Chieftain with a Gravity Hammer. However, he felt comfortable, the sound of a heart rate monitor filled his ear allowing him to know he was on his ship. He was safe. There was one thing out of place, a smell. The smell of ash and...cinnamon? It was a strong scent that he felt like he had recognized before. Slowly opening his eyes, getting adjusted to the bright white light he looked down at his form in the medical bay to see Allison. She was out of armour and just in a black ODST t-shirt and BDU pants. She was sitting in a chair leaned forward and resting on the edge of his bed. Her long flowing scarlet red hair no longer in a bun for combat operations, and due to the fact, it wouldn't hold in her ODST helmet, but out and flowing it leant almost half way down her back but now it was just a blanket of silky smooth red that semi covered the girl who now slept, watching over him. Curtis couldn't help but smile as he reached out and gently ran a hand though her hair and gently brushed the few strains out of her face. She began to stir, her brilliant emerald eyes locking with his own blue eyes.

"Curtis?" She stated sleepily as she awoke "Your ok!" she moved up to give him a hug which he returned. "I was so worried. You have been out for hours!"

"I am not going to drop to an overgrown planet monster." Curtis joked as he began to realize the Gravemind thing actually did look like a Venus fly trap. Well, a Venus fly trap created by Satan, but one all the same.

"Well, I am just glad you are ok." Allison stated as she leaned down to give him a kiss. "We landed on a garden world a few moments ago. Angela is planning to try and set up a base or something and get the ship fixed and many bring a few others into the mix while we are stuck here."

"How long are we stuck here" Curtis asked.

Allison sighed. "Best case scenario, 3 years."

"Damn." He laid back in his bed. He was not ready for this shit yet. "I'll see what we can do in the morning."

Allison nodded and kicked off her shoes and moved around before climbing into the bed with him.

"Allison?" Curtis started

"Hmm?" Was the only respect he got.

"You can't stay in the bed with me."

"Says who?" She looked up at him with a slight pouty look unbecoming of a helljumper.

"Says me. Now get."

"No." She held on like stubborn child.

"Allison, act your age."

"You see any armour on me?" She stated, "Then I am off duty, so I can act however I want."

"Lieutenant Forge." Curtis stated, she just looked at him, green meeting blue. "Fine. Just please be carful. I am feeling weak. That flood thing screwed me up."

She nodded and rested her head on his chest and began to dose off again. Sandra came in to check on him but upon seeing the two she just smiled and moved to dim the light before returning the med lab to do some research on the Flood sample she had obtained. Curtis simply closed his eyes and rested.

Mountain Plateau, UNSC _Hornet_ Landing site, September 4, 2552, 7:45am

A large contingent of Troops and Ground vehicles as well as Atmosphere only aircraft were amassed under the ship as its loading bays dropped off more and more. The plan was to move all the vehicles and premade freebases off the ship. Large heavy Dropships called Condors, or Fat pelicans and D20 Heron drops ships moved out dropping off bases and defensive structures along the plateau. Warthogs, Tanks, APCs Artillery and aerial recon Hornets, Wasps, Vultures, and Nightingales. Even the civilians helped out armed with XRP12 Gremlins. It however didn't take long to find out why the area was abandoned.

A patrol which held a Mastodon, and two gauss hogs and a Warthog APC stopped as something began to emerge form the bushes ahead of them.

The Driver of one of the gauss hogs looked curious. "The hell is that?"

"I don't know" he gunner replied. "Looks like we are about to find out."

Out of the brush...came a scorpion. Not a tank but the tank's namesake, only this one was as big as the M808 and was black with white bone like plating, a glowing yellow stinger, yellow red eyes and red markings on its carapaces.

"Umm, ok." The First Gauss hog gunner started. "What the fuck is that?"

"A very big bug." He driver replied. "A Very big armoured bug."

The creature turned to face them, it stared right at them, making chittering sounds then turned away as if uninterested heading off in another direction away form the soldiers.

"Well looks like its not hostile as long as we don't piss it off." The Driver of the APC hog stated. "Just avoid it and keep going, we have to reach the end of this Plateau and be back by sundown"

The convoy turned away to avoid the tank sized scorpion and move don their way, unknowing that the creature they passed was one of many more. As the day moved on several firebases, airbases, makeshift bunks and more has begun to crop up and so did the number of black and white animal sightings. They came in all shapes and sizes. Birds as big as a Longsword and even bigger. Tank sized scorpions, massive bears, werewolves, griffons and more. If it was not for the pictures, one would have thought the troops were going mad. Solara and Angela were absolutely fascinated by the creatures, however when ever asked to get close the creatures would back away or make threatening sounds indicating that were not fond of the UNSC personnel. It made clearing them out easy as line of vehicles would simply crawl forwards and they would move. Some of the creatures were seemed to be quite old did threaten the troops but only a handful actually tried anything.

A lone battalion setting a Garage outpost near a path down the side of the mountain they sat on was approached by low growls.

"The hell is that?" an Army Master Sergeant shouted.

"Contacts! 17 hostile wolf creatures lead by one big fucker." Shouted another soldier, this one a Army private first class.  
The Big fucker in question as a wolf creature with thicker bone plates who was bigger than the rest and had a look of almost intelligence in its eyes. It let out a loud howl as the others of its pack charged.

"Unload on these fuckers!" The Master sergeant cried out as he readied his MA37.

A stream of 5.56 round erupted form the rifles as the subsonic round ripped into the black flesh of each creature. The leader seemed to take the rounds better but even it was being worn down easily. The UNSC had long fought things similar to them. Brutes, Hunters and Elites came to mind with the big guy, but his pals dropped with a burst to vital areas like Grunts or Jackals. A headshot was easily to attain on the smaller ones as their bone plate on their head was thinner the rifle penetrated it with ease. The leader or Alpha's plates was thicker and while concentrated fire was getting threw, the Master sergeant decided to just go for broke and grabbed a Frag Grenade and tossed it right at the creature's feet. The explosion ripped the being apart. The Army had no injuries and the creature sewer all killed, but the odd part of it all was the creatures' bodies began to dissolve.

"Ok. This is weird." The Master sergeant began as the beings' dissolve into a jet black smoke like ash.

"We fight 10-foot-tall hulking monsters made up of worms and starship hull plating with radioactive cannons that come in varying styles of hurt." Said a random army trooper. "And you call THIS weird? We just got back from fighting space zombies on an artificial ancient alien planet!"

No one could honestly argue with that logic. The data was complained on the incident and was sent back to the ship as the troops kept up building up what was going to become a Starfighter base.  
Soon scans showed of the creatures were gone form the mountain and the building of walls in areas where they could get in around the area were constructed. If they were stuck here for the next few years, they wouldn't just be idle. In defiance of the Covenant this area was to become the first UNSC colony settled since the war began in 2525. The colony was founded, but they knew they were not alone on this planet. Other intelligent life did as well and as the UNSC began to construct its fortress colony one question lingered in the back of everyone's minds...how will they greet them? Their first contact with the Covenant ended in disaster. How will they prevent that this time? Plans were going to be drawn up when a message was sent to the bridge of the _Hornet_

Bridge of the UNSC _Hornet_ , Future UNSC colony site, September 4, 2552, 4:26 pm

"What do you mean under attack?!" Angela asked from the bridge to a patrolling longsword squadron via Holocomms.

"It's just that ma'am." The flight lead responded. "A small force of tilt-jet VTOL aircraft are assaulting a small village, bout 10 klicks form the mountain base. This is also attracting the attention of several Large creatures some previously undocumented. Appearances seem to be 2 massive Elephant looking creatures, and... Jesus Christ! Control we have visual of some kind of...rock monster! Its taller than a Scarab!"

"Say again!?" Angela ordered not believing this for a second.

A visual display from the underside camera of the Longsword showed her the proof. Massive lumbering Elephants, hoards of smaller creatures and the bipedal rock monster. But that was not the shocking part. What was the residents of the Village she saw fleeing in terror. They were unmistakably human.

"How the hell!?" Angela's normal calm demeanor was gone as she witnessed humans being attacked by the strange creatures they had just easily driven out of the Plateau with little force. So many question ran threw her head. Why were there humans here? Why did the creatures attack them but not the UNSC troops? Who was the group in the tiltjets? All of that was secondary as of right now.

"All combat teams prepare for deployment!" Angela ordered over the intercom. "There is a village of...humans nearby under attack!" That last bit of data got people on their feet as they wondered how humans could have gotten here. "We may be on a new world now apart of the UNSC, but we are tasked with defending the innocent against all threats to humanity! We will not let these people died for no reason and we will not let those who started this tragedy go unpunished!"

The _Hornet_ came to life as the ship began to deploy most troops for combat operations. Pelicans lifted off with Scorpions, Grizzlies and more off to help defend the small town. And so, they would make their first step onto this world and change it forever more...

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	9. Making Friends, Shooting Monsters

**Chapter 6**  
 **Making friends, Shooting Monsters, Typical day in the UNSC**

Sandy springs village, 67km Southwest of Vale, Continent of Sanus, September 4, 2552

A young girl ran down a cobblestone path as fast as her legs would carry her, for she dares not look back at what lay behind her. She didn't know why this had happened. It had been a peaceful day. She was out with her sisters and her lone brother when they heard the jets. The airships had dropped off mean people in Grimm masks who attack her home causing panic. And that panic brought a whole new problem. Grimm, dozens and dozens of Grimm came flooding down from the mountain and began to lock onto the panic and joined the carnage. The mean people turned their guns to the Grimm, but they were outgunned. Most of their airships left them behind, a few stayed to help those on the ground, but they were losing badly. She wanted to know if anyone else had made it, but she couldn't stop. She could hear them. Beowolfs chasing her, claws sharp and fangs bared. She had to get away. She had to.  
She had not seen the rock in her path, but she felt it. As her left foot made contact and she tripped over, falling onto the dirt. She cried as she looked up at the two Grimm, posed and ready to kill.

"Mommy, help me!" She cried out as the wolf lunged at her.

Her mother may not have been here, but someone did answer her cries. Two loud POWs were heard, her ears rung from the sound as both Beowolfs fell over with most of their torso missing. What? Something stopped them? A Huntsman? The sound of engines filled her ears as they stopped ringing. Lots of engines. Cars, trucks...airships? She looked up to see a large green car with a big gun in the back. It had three people in it, one driving, one using the big gun that had three spinning barrels and a passenger with another big gun in her hand that was smoking. Had that weapon stopped those Beowolfs? The driver got out and walked up to her wearing a strange full body metal armour she had never seen before. Was he a knight of some kind?

"Hey there." He began. "Are you ok?"

The little girl began to cry again. "Please help! My mommy and my sisters and my brother are back in the village! Please save them from the Grimm!"

The driver nodded to her. "That's what we came here to do kiddo" He turned back looking at the long line of vehicles and troops coming in. The little girl was amazed by the vehicles as they drove past. A swooshing sound from above was heard as she looked up and saw large black jets flying over. They were followed by other jets and airships of many kinds. She hugged the driver of the green car. He and his people had come to save them. Save her family. Save her.

The Driver, a young marine couldn't help but give the girl who couldn't have been more than 12 a hug back. "Anyone can take care of her?" he spoke into his radio. "We can't take her in the Hog"

"Drop her off with me." A Tundra Bison pulled up next to him, a female Driver in the cockpit, waves of ice cold air flowing off the Vacuum energy cells. "I got space up front and I would love to see those bastards try and get through my hull."

It was not ideal, but he had heard worse ideas. He looked back down at the little girl "I am going to drop you off with the lady in that big truck ok?" The little girl looked at the APC, then back at him. "We don't have space in our truck, but she has space up front and you get to see us fighting the monsters ok?" She nodded at him. "Just stay away from anything...not for kids."

"Got it." The Bison driver spoke as the Marine helped her into the vehicle. The Little girl looked at the controls. "Welcome aboard, what's your name?"

"Violet." The little blonde girl spoke. "Violet Arc."

"Well then, Miss Arc." The driver kicked the vacuum energy cryotech armed former APC into gear. "Let's go ice some bad guys"

[Sandy Springs village, town square, September 4, 2552, 2:14 pm]  
A lone Bat Faunus of the White fang looked down at her rifle as she hunkered behind cover. How had things ended up this way? Things were not supposed to go like this. It was supposed to be a simple raid, get in, grabs some supplies from the humans, and get out leaving the village scared. It may provoke a response from Vale but what did they care? This village was far out enough they didn't even know if Vale would even KNOW about this, let alone care. Yet their attack had attracted a massive Grimm force which their own brothers and sisters abandoned them to! She gripped her boxy rifle and came out of cover as she heard a few approaching Ursa Minors.

"Bring it!" She shouted as she opened fire on the grimm, her rifle doing some but not a lot of damage to it. Then the dreaded sound graced her ears. Click, click. She was out of rounds the lead Ursa roared and began to charge when another sound was heard. It sounded like a very large high velocity cannon firing. A half a second later she was greeted by an explosion as the 3 Minors ceased to exist having been hit by an High explosive shell from...something.

"W-What was that?" The bat faunus asked as the ground shook lightly. A loud rumbling roar graced her sensitive ears as a large vehicle with a large gun on a turret and 4 large treads escorted by 6 infantry troops in strange armour rolled up, the barrel of its gun still smoking. The monster of a machine didn't stop as it rolled over the still dissolving bodies of the Grimm, crushing whatever lay before it when one of the troops spotted her.

The soldier aimed his large gray rifle at her. "UNSC Marine Corps, show me your hands!" She complied and raised her hands, her rifle still clutched in her right hand as she was too scared to let go. "Drop your weapon!" She did as she was told and fell to her knees. The "UNSC Marine" as he identified pulled her out of cover and put her on her knees. "You one of those bastards who caused this attack?!" he questioned the scared bat faunus. He already knew, she could tell.

"Y-yes." The girl's weak response came. "We came for food and medicine."

"And you fucks had to go attacking innocent people for that!?" She could feel the cold steel of the rifle against her neck as she began to cry. "As of right now, you are under arrest on the authority of the United Nations Space Command. Try anything and your dead."

She looked up at him though the slits of her mask confused. She had initially though them to be the Vale Military or at worse Atlas passing by. "United Nations?" She asked. Also, he was arresting her? She thought he was going to shoot her with how he had been yelled at.

"Oh, right." The marine looked less mad and more sheepish. "You never heard of us. Just say we are a new player in town and you done fucked up." He got her up and put her in hand cuffs before escorting her to a waiting 6 wheeling car. With a large back end.

"What about the people?" The White Fang girl asked, "Aren't they more important than me?"

"They are." He responded. "But if you have not noticed, we have the situation in hand."

She was placed in the back with 5 other arrested white fang members. Before they closed the door, she saw the large military force engaging the Grimm and White fang and was suddenly quite glad she was in the truck and not out there.

[1500 ft above Shady Sands Village, YSS-2000 Katana, September 4, 2552, 1:34 pm]  
Sarah Rawley was having a bad day. Normally one would think that this would be a good thing for her she, being the _Hornet_ 's most skilled air force pilot, was given the chance to pilot the only YSS-2000 prototype on the ship. The sleek red and black fighter, armed with two 30mm coil guns, a modular weapons bay carrying 6 ASGM-10 Missiles, a M8C Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Cannon or Spartan laser under the nose and a 120mm coilgun turret controlled by a dumb AI or a gunner. Today it was the AI and she didn't mind as the AI only fired if she ordered it to do so. It was fast, shielded, maneuverable and all hers. Her craft was not her problem, it was her damned opponents! The giant birds she would come to later know as Giant nevermore didn't act like fighters but advanced helicopters or VTOL craft! She would slot in behind one then it would stop, hover turn to face her and launch those gods damn dropship sized feather spears at her, bouncing off her shields but draining it heavily with each hit. She then has to dis-engage, recharge shields then repeat the process. It was annoying! More than a few times they had actually tried to grab her ship but were quick to find out that was a bad idea as their talons melted against the powerful golden shields.

Midway gained altitude and tried another tactic. "Ok. Hope the dampeners of this ship are damn well built tough." She dove down at high speeds on another Nevermore and unleashed the splaser cannon. The crimson beam of energy vapourized the torso of the giant bird and it fell to the ground dead. "Boom and zoom. Ok, got fight these pricks like I am in a damn 262. I can work with this." She switched to her 30mm guns and began to open up and Griffons who were not paying attention to the skies and nevermores as she nosed down then sped back off into the skies using her boosters. One nevermore however seemed to be determined to bring down her and her fighter. The creature seemed larger than the others, an alpha? Or something similar.

"Ok big boy." Rawley readied herself for a fight. "Let's play."

She hit the breaking thrusters and shot behind the creature before setting her fighter into VTOL mode. It wanted a fight, she was going to give it one. The large bird like being fired a large volley of quill projectiles some striking the shields of the Katana fighter as Sarah pushed the atmospheric scram jets to the limits as she pulled up and over the massive bird hoping to get away from it. The alpha nevermore pushed itself up as it pursued the smaller fighter but was hopelessly outclassed it speeds and gave up. At about 10,000 feet up Rawley spun her fighter around and dove on the Nevermore now that its back was turned. Two ASGM missile flew free form their launchers and slammed into the massive bird, ripping it apart as she pulled up and away to find another target.

"Overgrown crow vs the Air Force. Air force always wins" Rawley said to no one in particular as she flew off bad into the dogfight above the town below.

[Outskirts of Shady Sands Village, M510 Mammoth _Leviathan_ , September 4, 2552, 2:25pm]  
The crew of the new Ultra Heavy siege vehicle was having a blast up until now. These monsters couldn't even scratch the massive vehicles armour and those few air threats in the from of VTOL Tiltjets, giant birds and griffons got the raw end of the Mini MAC cannon on the roof. No, those things were not the problem. It's what came next that was. Two massive elephants like creatures that were just as taller as the Mammoth itself! The two were two close to use the main gun as they rammed the siege vehicle. The crew was thrown around as the first creature tried to flip the vehicle which, being about 20 ft taller than they were, was something it seemed like it could do.

The commander of the Vehicle quick turned to two marines nearby. "You two!" He shouted as the _Leviathan_ 's front end began to raise. "Get out onto the MLRS turrets and make that fucker let go!"

The two marines exchanged looks before nodding and moving for the doors. The Young Goliath Grimm fought back against the Mammoth's powerful engine as the two marines made it out to the turrets. Huge glaring orbs of reddish-yellow stared down upon them.

"Aim for its eyes!" The first marine yelled out as she took aim.

Both turrets unleashed their six 65mm HE rockets straight into the eyes of the goliath which staggered back and roared in pain. The second one attempted to charge from the side but being further out it was in optimal MAC range. The Mark 2457/35cm HRG "Mini-MAC" turret swung around and a loud POW was heard as a 15cm round of ferric-tungsten ripped its plate armour and it head apart in a large explosion of black and red Grimm parts. Not wasting any time, the Mammoth then charged and rammed the second one knocking it to the ground before backing up to a safe distance. The Goliath slowly got back up, looking around for the UNSC vehicle that had attacked it. Its answer was received in the form of a Mini MAC round piercing its skull and killing it. The crew began to breath a sigh of relief...until a heavy stomp shook the Mammoth.

"What the fuck is that?" One of the drivers asked as the Mammoth shook again as another heavy stomp was heard.  
"Spin us around." The Commander ordered. "I think its to our right."

The 90ft vehicle turned to face what was making the noise and was shocked into silence. A massive 150ft rock monster stood before them. A Single white bone plate face sat near the top with a lone yellow eye. Long glowing red line snaked across its form. Its glared down at the _Leviathan_

"What in god's name is that thing!?" The co-driver asked in panic.

"Its dead, that's what it is!" The Gunner responded as he swung the main turret around and took aim at the creature's face. Just as he was about to fire the creature held up an 'arm' in front of its face. The MAC round fired and obliterated the arm of the creature with ease and slightly grazed the main body, but the creature stood all the same.

"All weapons open fire!" The Commander shouted. "Its can't withstand a barrage! Keep it off balance!"

As the Petra Gigas Geist grimm regained its footing after the first MAC shot, it was then bombarded by a hail of Rocket fire form the MLRS turrets on the front of the Mammoth as its MAC recharged. The turrets stop firing and the Geist tried to advanced only to have its upper torso ripped off by the second MAC round form the Mammoth.

"We got em!" The gunner stated with a cheer.

"Wait." The Commander stated as he watched the pile of rocks.

He was right to wait as form the rocks came a ghost looking creature the turned to fly away, trying to escape. The Commander smiled however, as he noticed the Geist was not paying attention as it was looking back at them. When it turned forward to watch where it was going it was hit by a chilling beam of cryo energy as a ZAV-48 Frostraven and a Tundra Bison came up. The cryobeam of the Frost raven hit it first while shells from the Bison help until the Geist was frozen solid.

"I ain't afraid of no ghost!" The Raven pilot joked dover the Comms, as her quad prop VTOL craft moved off to help the rest of the village as the Bison dealt with the Geist by running it over, the sculpture shattering under its nanotube skeleton tires.

The _Leviathan_ turned back towards the town, its job done as the skies became clear of Grimm and the larger monsters have been dealt with.

[Shady Sands Village, Ruins of the Town square, September 4, 2552, 3:30pm]

It had not been a hard battle but a decently lengthy one. The UNSC had saved a massive amount of the civilians and beaten back the Grimm with zero casualties to themselves, but the battle was not bloodless. Several civilians had been killed before they had arrived, the White Fang forces were either under arrest or in bloody ribbons if they fought back. Many had become scared of the UNSC or more specifically their weapons, some muttering about how a MA5B ripped thought a companion even though he had a full aura, whatever an aura was, the Troops didn't care. Their weapons had long since been modified over the last 25 years of war to pierce Covenant energy shields. They were ridiculously strong against flesh, yet some WF members held a slight resistance, before the UNSC rounds pieced whatever shielding they seemed to have. It was a mystery for another time as the Troops had another dilemma. What do they do with the Civilians? The village was in ruins and not fit for reoccupation, especially with the treat of another attack like that. Many had lost everything they had in the fight.

A new D81-LRT Condor flew in dropping off a not fully recovered but stubborn, Curtis, along with Allison, Angela and Miranda who came to survey the aftermath.

Alison looked over the burning village "Damn. Those monsters really can be a threat."

"To unarmed civilians and our own forces." Miranda stated looking up at the large dents and damage to the Mammoth _Leviathan_ that was parted near by and was allowing Civilians into it large holding bay to rest after the battle. "What are we going to do with these people?"

"Well we can't leave them here" Curtis stated as he saw a Bison drop off a young blonde girl who was reunited with her Mother and siblings, an older brother lifting her up and hugging her tight. "Angela, what's the standard crew of a UNSC Charon class frigate?"

Angela looked at him confused at the nature of the question "782 crew. Why?"

Curtis continued. "And for the _Hornet_ once finished as an Infinity class supercarrier?"

"Over 17,000 crew." Angela answered.

"How many of us are there in total after Reach?" Curtis questioned one last time.

"Less than 8000 UNSC active personnel and about 400 civilians" Angela answered, slowly beginning to understand why he was asking these questions.

"We won't be able to staff half of the ships, or vehicles we have with our current numbers and AI alone can't fill this gap." Curtis stated. "We may need to start recruiting from the locals. Not by force, but willing people who will help defend their world and ours against possible Covenant invasion. I say we bring them with us., allow them to make new homes in our Colony."

"We also need a way to generate revenue in the form of the local currency." Miranda stated.

"That's easy." Allison said. "Once we get a few Charons up and running we can use them as makeshift cargo and transport ships. Airship exist on this world according to some of the radio reports we have intercepted and with these monster things being a danger we can pass of the weapons as defensive systems."

"They may work for the Ramparts and the Missiles but what about the MAC?" Curtis asked.

"They don't have to know the MAC is a weapon." Allison stated with a smirk "Hell they may not even think a gun could be as BIG as a MAC"

Curtis thought about it. "This could work. Ok then, we bring the Villagers back to the Colony, but we make sure they never reveal the Location of the colony to anyone until we are sufficiently ready. I rather not get into a shooting war with one of the local militaries."

"Fair enough" Miranda said. "By the way, we have not yet named the Colony."

Curtis looked up at the mountain, upon which at the large flat plateau at the top he would, in defiance of the Covenant, build a new colony for the UNSC and a place to help save Earth with the fleet and weapons it will produce. "Harvest. It was the first Colony attacked by the Covenant, and I believe it needs to be remembered." He turned to Miranda. "Today we begin to build the future colony city of New Harvest here. I don't expect this world to fall under full UNSC control, but I hope they don't mind us sharing the planet with them."

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	10. Do you Want to Know More?

**Chapter 7**  
 **Do you want to know more?**

UNSC Colony city New Harvest, ONI headquarters R&D storage, November 10, 2553

"No" Curtis stated as Allison stood there with something he honestly didn't know was in the _Hornet_ 's manifest. ONI had been working on a lot of prototype weapons, armour and vehicles on Reach and when the Covenant invaded they brought it all, or at least everything they could bring, to the ship. What Allison had found was another such prototype. It was a body suit, similar to those wore by Spartans under their main armour plating. It had a more muscle like feel to its form with silver tendons connecting different parts.

"Oh, come on!" Allison whined. "We are going to have to eventually test this stuff."

"Did you not see the video showing what happens when an un-augmented person wears Spartan power armour?" Curtis replied.

"Ya, I am not wearing the armour just the body suit." Allison pointed out.

"An experimental body suit that we have NO idea what it does." Curtis countered.

"Angela does. ~" Allison pointed out. "And I asked her down here to help!"

Curtis face palmed. "You are really determined, aren't you?" Allison just nodded happily. Curtis sighed in defeat. Well it was not like she was wrong, they did have to test out most of this stuff eventually and they have with the help of Dawn and Defiance. The Monitor in question has even broken the record for fastest ship building time with his constructors on the first line of ships. 4 of which are now in service, Charon Class Light Assault Frigate _New Dawn_ , Stalwart Class Light Frigate _From the Ashes_ , Paris Class Heavy Frigate _Prometheus_ and Halberd Class Destroyer _William D. Porter_. These new ships had some of the newest technologies on them. Improved reactors, upgraded MACs, plasma lines, energy shielding and more. They had more ships, crew was in short supply which was sad as the first battlecruiser was slated for completion next year in March.

He was dragged out of his thought be the sound of footsteps as Angela, the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence in this Colony, and by default the Planet, and Miranda who was second in command and was in charge of field ops and intelligence gathering. He two were dressed in standard ONI officer's dress.

"So, what's this about a new armour I have been hearing about for the last hour?" Miranda stated with an arm fold and a semi relaxed pose while Angela still stood up straight with her arms behind her back in a more inquisitive posture.

"This thing." Allison held up the body suit for them to see.

"Ah, the CryNet Systems tactical-combat power armour, otherwise known as the Nanosuit." Angela stated.

"Power armour?" Allison asked as she looked at the suit then back at Angela. "I thought it was an under-armour body glove."

"It somewhat is." Angela explained. "The suit was designed for un-augmented soldiers to gain enhanced abilities that, while not on par with Spartans, would elevate them far above normal soldiers. It never got out of the testing phase however due to...setbacks."

"What kind of setbacks?" Curtis asked.

"Once one wears the suit, the Nanites that make up the suit begins to integrate with its user. All nanosuits are symbiotic, meaning that they physically bond with the user and become a form of second skin. The suits and the users eventually merge into one being. The process is accelerated if the wearer suffers serious injury as the suit will breakdown non-critical tissues in order to repair critical organs." The stoic ONI agent explained to a shocked Curtis. "Over time, the suit would also directly interface with the wearer's brain. This allows the wearer to use the suit's processors as like a part of their own brain, essentially making most of their thought processes happen outside of their own brain. The wearer's personality and memories would also be copied and stored in the suit's deep layers. Once fully merged, the wearer no longer appears to wear the suit, but has access to all the suit's functions. They become a 'Post-Human Warrior', however no test subject has survived long enough as removal of the suit will often lead to death."

"Well then that settles it." Curtis turned to Allison who looked at the suit in her hands with a bit of fear. "Put it back."

"Don't need to tell me twice" Allison began to do so when Miranda stepped in.

"If I may, the test subjects died for reasons beyond out control, but Allison is holding the full production variant." Miranda pointed out. "It may not be as dangerous."

"But removal could kill Allison." Angela stated, her tone slightly raised.

"Then I won't take it off." Allison finally added. "You said it becomes apart of me, right? No health problems?"

Angela sighed. "No, if anything the suit will make you healthier, but even after full integration you are not a Spartan, so don't try anything crazy."

Allison just eyed the suit like a child as she asked what the suit could allow her to do as Curtis once again held his head in his hands. She was going to regret putting that thing on and he would be there to say, "I told you so".  
He left the girls to their test as he had his own work to do. He reached the elevator, punched in his code and began the trip up to the ground floor. Upon reaching it, he stepped out of the large building model after the ONI HQ Sword base from Reach and headed out to his car. The sentinel constructors were a god send as they made construction of the city extremely easy. It was easy enough with human made Instacreate, a faster to make and faster to build with form of concreate that was much tougher that the normal stuff. The city wall had gone up in the first month, the rest had gone by so quickly, especially with the premade firebases picking up the slack in some areas. It also helped that Defiance opted to make more constructors to speed up the work. Curtis loved the little guys, even if they could be annoying at times. The UNSC had been careful in its acquisition of resources, opting to use the retriever sentinels to get them from the Oort Cloud around the Remnant system, similar to what the UNSC had done around the Sol and Epsilon Eridani systems.  
The city was looking great and was still growing by the day, but it felt empty at times. Curtis was hoping to remedy this. Allison's idea to use the smaller ships to generate revenue was working and had attracted a lot of interest, mainly from people who were sick of their current living conditions. This lead Curtis to his mission today. He had learned of the kingdoms that ruled over 4 corners of the world. The closest was Vale, to the west was Vacuo, to the east was Mistral and to the north was Atlas. He had also learned that the monsters, the creatures of Grimm, were what stopped them form advancing out. That part confused him as the UNSC easily carved out a place to live with its weapons and kingdoms like Atlas had airborne battlecruisers. Why not just plow on through? He shook his head. That was another question for another day. Today his mission was one of peace and hopefully of benefit to those he would visit and to the UNSC. Two major settlements that were not kingdoms were he destinations today. The Defunct former kingdom of Mantle and the Faunus island of Menagerie. Both had high faunus populations and were in poor states of being due to neglect and racist attitudes form other kingdoms like Atlas. Mantle was abandoned by Atlas and Menagerie was just left to the faunus after a form of the Civil rights movement back in the past, one that still continues to this day. Curtis was hoping to help out both impoverished settlements and hopefully get some help himself. If they didn't want to, that was their choice and he would accept it.

Curtis soon found himself at the center of the city and its crowning achievement, the New Harvest space tether. The structure was similar to the one seen on many other worlds, this particular one modeled after the first on ever built in New Mombasa in East Africa. Using help from the Forerunner monitor and reverse engineered covenant spire cloaking tech, the main elevator was invisible aside from its base and the station in orbit. Docked on that station was the vessel Curtis was going to use to hopefully open diplomatic relations with mantle and Menagerie, the Halberd Class Destroyer UNSC _William D. Porter_. He was wearing a UNSC Navy Commander Service uniform with a peaked cap worn by officers in battle. He felt more at home in his ODST armour, but he was not expecting a fight. The trip up the elevator was uneventful and soon he found himself on the Station _Retribution_ which was semi complete with only a few rooms left unfinished. It was however designed for more than one elevator. Maybe one day if they expand after they come back from helping Earth, they will build more. Curtis headed to the Docking bay the _Porter_ sat and boarded the starship. Many civilians who helped work on the ship and the crew saluted, even if some were technically a higher rank than him, after the escape from Reach, man felt he should have a higher rank, but he refused as it was not his place to given himself a higher rank. He was still a Commander, even if most troops though of him as an Admiral. Curtis actually never thought of reaching such a high rank. What was the purpose? To sit at a desk or give orders from a station? No, that was not the life for him, if anything maybe a Rear Admiral so he could still stay in combat but even then, the thrill of a ground battle was superior to a space combat in his opinion.

He eventually Reach the bridge of the Destroyer as its new Captain turned to salute him.  
"Sir" The former XO of the _Trident_ turned Captain of his own ship saluted. "Bit odd, me saluting you, isn't it?"

"In more ways than one." Curtis joking shot back. "How's the _Porter_?"

The Captain, Ethan Taylor, grinned. "You have no idea. The _Trident_ was a good ship but she was showing her age. This baby...two forward mounted plasma beam weapons and upgraded rapid fire 14B11R2 MAC Batteries? Three round bursts with the main gun and near semi auto fire from the secondary? Plus, the new missiles? And shields? I would love to see a Covie ship try and take down this baby!"

"You will get your chance to kill Covenant one day Taylor, but not today." Curtis stated. "Today, to try and be diplomatic."

A crewman spoke up. "We tried that on Harvest, sir. It kinda fell apart when a Grunt ripped some guy's guts out."

"Well we are not dealing with religious extremists." Curtis stated before adding. "But it is known that Faunus are not fully fond of humans due to the racist actions form other kingdoms in the past and in present day. Hell, in our own languages Menagerie means 'Zoo' and if that translates to the same thing here than some sick fuck has a bad sense of humor."

Taylor looked out the thick windows at the black, star filled void of space and down to the green-blue jewel of a world below. "Well then, let's go show them not all humans are assholes then." He turned to the helmsman. "Prepare to cast off."

The Halberd began to detach from its mooring and slowly use it thrusters and repulsors to push away from the station. It turned it nose around as it repulsor-fusion engines burned blue as it made speed for the planet below.

[Kuo Kuana Main port, Kuo Kuana, Menagerie, November 10, 2553]

The first time they saw it, it was a moment of fear. Its sleek lines, and predatory shape, the dark gray vessel looked and felt like a warship to the people of Menagerie, not that its crew would ever admit that it actually was. Yet it didn't bring war, it brought relief. The first time the vessel of the 'UNSC' which most assumed was some form of shipping company by the 'SC' part of the acronym had brought vital aid that the crowded settlement of Menagerie had ordered. Its massive frame had lower itself gently and unloaded vital cargo the residents of Kuo Kuana needed. And they pay they asked for in return was ridiculously cheap, not that the crew at the time knew. The sight of that ship they called the _William D. Porter_ was a common and welcomed sight. Today however, it visit was for another reason then just a cargo run as the leader of Kuo Kuana was contacted by the leader of the UNSC who asked to talk. As chieftain, Ghira Belladonna was slightly worried. He knew from news reports and from rumors around town that White Fang attacks on these ships due to their cargo was frequent but at the same time it was also known anyone who attacks a UNSC cargo ship was never heard from again. He once asked the crew of another ship, the _Prometheus_ what happens if they are attacked by Grimm or bandits, and the crew member just smiled a knowing smile and said: "Sorry sir, That classified."

The wonder if these ships were in fact warships creeped into his mind as the familiar frame of the _Porter_ was seen on the horizon. It was coming form a rather high altitude he didn't even know airships could reach.

Ghira tried to elevate this unease he felt about this meeting as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see the face of his loving wife, Kali. "You ok?" She asked him, worry evident in her eyes.

Ghira sighed. "It's nothing. Just all the rumors clouding my thoughts."

"I doubt they came to start any trouble and if anything, they have been nothing but kind." Kali reassured him. "Just relax. They probably just want to talk business or something."

Ghira smiled down at his wife. "You're right. It just...that ships just doesn't act like a cargo ship. It has enough armour to take on an Atlas fleet."

"Ghira." Kali chided him. "You're over thinking things again."

"I can't help it." Ghira stated as he watched the _Porter_ land. "There is something off about this UNSC. And I have a feeling, we are about to find out what it is."

Curtis placed his peaked cap on his head and headed down to the hanger bay as the crew unloaded supplies picked up from Mistral for the town as he saw a large tall and Muscular man with an open dark violet coat approaching along with a woman he assumed was his wife who wore a style of outfit Curtis would swear up and down came from traditional Japanese culture back on Earth.

"Greetings, I am Ghira Belladonna." The tall man, now identified as Ghira began. "I am in charge of this village."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Belladonna." Curtis said. "I am Commander Curtis Fletcher of the United Nations Space Command. I have come to talk about a proposal I wish to share with you."

Ghira looked dumbstruck for a moment. "I'm sorry, I could have sworn you said, 'Space Command'."

"I did." Curtis said.

Ghira pointed up at the _Porter_ "That's a spaceship?"

"A UNSC Halberd class Destroyer, yes." Curtis stated.

Ghira looked at his wife. "Told you it was a warship." She rolled her eyes. "Well I am not sure I believe the space part of this tale, but you clearly are military, so why use warships as Cargo ships?"

"That is part of why I have come to you today." Curtis started. "May we go somewhere private, so I may explain our situation?"

Ghira and his wife nodded led him to their home, both unaware of the ONI force recon team snipers armed with photo reactive cloaking armour and M99 Stanchions that were keeping a lookout for any who would harm their commander.

[Belladonna family home, Kou Kuana, Menagerie, November 10, 2553]

Curtis was sitting down enjoying a cup of tea after telling his story to Ghira and Kali who sat their dumbfounded. Curtis had brought a holoprojector along with footage of many of these events as proof which sat on the table with an image of a CAS and its fleet, glassing a human colony world.

"To think that anything out there could be so... cruel." Kali stated with a mortified tone.

"800 worlds lost." Ghira tried to rack his brain around that number. "How have you managed to survive this onslaught?"

Curtis set down his cup. "We adapted to situations. We learned about our enemies. And most importantly, we kept fighting. Not for victory, or honor...but for our right to exist."

"Why have you come here? To Remnant I mean." Ghira asked.

"It was not by choice, our original ship, the _Hornet_ was damaged in a fight against an infected CAS assault carrier." Curtis explained. He had wondered if it was a good idea to mention the Flood, but he was not going to get allies by withholding information that could prove vital in a worse case scenario, so he had let them view limited clips of the infection from the shield world.

They both shivered in fear at the idea of the parasite. "Damn space zombies. It seems like something out of science fiction" Ghira stated.

"One of my Officers said the same thing." Curtis said, taking another sip of his tea. "Ironic for us to think about science fiction when we work on Starships."

"Well, glossing over the idea of Zombies and alien invasions why we don't ask the main question here." Ghira stated. "That being what do you want with Menagerie?"

"What I want is sort of a win-win type deal." Curtis began. "I am aware of...a bit of Remnant's history, but not much as we have not actually had much contact aside from some villages and whenever we pull into port. We know that your island is two thirds desert and is uninhabitable due to hostile animal life. Well what if we help both remove that hostile life and terra formed it to be more fertile?"

Ghira looked at him both surprised and wearingly. "What's the catch?"

Curtis sighed. "Well to be honest two things. From preliminary scans, the area would be an excellent place to set up what we call a tether city." He set the Hologram to show a picture of a Tether city, this one being New Alexandria on Reach. "It's a city built near or around an orbital space elevator. An orbital elevator is just as it sounds, an elevator that reaches from the planets surface to a station in orbit. In this case the _Retribution_ station. The city would be all yours however, the tether would just make the sending and retrieving of goods a bit easier as we don't have the manpower to actually man our fleet. The second thing would be the opportunity for a mutual co-cooperation between Menagerie and the UNSC. This would include recruitment stations and allowing us to use some of our technology to help build up your city."

Kali looked at him shocked. "Wait. You mean you would give us the means to make a city like in these images!?"

"Yes." Curtis stated. "While I am keeping the Military technologies of the UNSC a secret, Civilian technologies is something I can share freely."

"And the recruitment stations?" Ghira inquired.

"Like I said, we don't have the means to operate our fleet." Curtis said. "We wish to recruit those who wish to help defend their homeworld and help us get the new fleet we are making back out our colony city of New Harvest to Earth. We will not ask them to fight the Covenant as we do not have the right to recruit civilians from a Non-UNSC world and drag them into our war. They will simply help get our new Fleet back to Earth, then board a slipspace capable transport back home. If they wish to stay and fight that will be their choice, but I will not make that choice for them."

Ghira though over the proposal. The idea of a space faring race of humans offering this was just way too much. No, if he was going to accept this, he had to know if it was genuine.

"There is still currently too much I don't know about you people for me to allow this deal to go threw." Ghira affirmed.

Curtis sighed. "Its ok. I understand." He stood up. "I thank you for your time and the tea and ask you only keep what we have discussed here a secret." He reached out to grab the holoprojector before Ghira stopped him.

"Now hold on. I didn't say I will dismiss it completely, as the offer is extremely useful especially with the overcrowding of Kou Kuana. But I need to know you are being genuine. My people have been tricked and lied to for too long."

"Hmm." Curtis thought about this and came up with an idea. "Would clearing out the land and giving you the means to create your own city be enough? We can discuss the other things when you are more comfortable."

Ghira looked at Kali who nodded feeling this was a best-case scenario before turning back to Curtis. "We have a deal." He extended his hand which Curtis shook strongly with a smile.

Curtis gave him a short salute. "I promise you, the UNSC never lets down its allies."

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	11. Seismic Disturbances

**Chapter 8**  
 **Seismic Disturbances.**

Off the Coast of Kou Kuana, Menagerie, November 10, 2553

A large swirling blueish vortex of energy opened up over the ocean nearby as a Charon class frigate, the UNSC _New Dawn_ surged out of it, to take the _William D. Porter_ 's place for the liberation of the rest of the island home of the Faunus, Menagerie. Many stood and watch in awe as the ship came form the portal, taking pictures and the like. The rush of air as the Frigate decelerated over the city was so immense that many had to hold onto whatever was not nailed down.

"So why change ships?" Kali asked Curtis as the rest of the _Porter_ 's crew prepared to cast off.

"Even with the new Technologies, Halberd class destroyers and not built for Ground combat but are escort ships. Charons on the other hand are meant for ground assault and supporting fire." Curtis explained. "It would be better if we had a Phoenix class Assault ship but those are not slated to come online till next year and the Colony ships are coming online next month."

"You do remember we don't know HALF of what you are talking about, right?" Ghira asked as he watch the _New Dawn_ begin to launch Pelican Dropships and its 4 Longsword Interceptor fighters.

"My apologies. Basically, there is a ship we have that is better for this type of mission, but we don't have one yet." Curtis said. "But the Charon class still gets the jobs done. By the way, what even is on the other side of those peaks?"

"I don't believe it has been named but it is a large armoured grimm that stays underground. It somewhat worm like in appearance with long spikes it uses to push itself along." Ghira explained. "It has a beak like mouth that opens into 5 parts that can crush a car. It has three internal tendrils with jaws that drag it prey in that can detach and chase you down. They are about 50 feet long with some growing even larger and their tendrils have a 20-foot reach."

"Yikes, Grimm version of Tremors on Steroids." Curtis stated. "That rules out a ground invasion."

"I am sorry, but what is Tremors?" Kali asked.

"Its an old movie forms the 21st century on earth about similar albeit smaller creatures attacking a town while they try to survive." Curtis explained "One of my friends is heavily into old media and showed it to me and these Grimm sound like much bigger versions of those monsters, the Graboids I believe they were called. Are they indigenous to only Menagerie?"

"We have heard of similar creatures in the Vacuo Wastes but they all turned out to just be Scologiantia sightings." Ghira explained. "These are giant worms, not giant centipedes. If Scologiantia lived here, they would bypass our only defence."

"Let me guess, the mountains are solid stone the Grimm cannot tunnel through." Curtis said.

"That's correct. Its made up of an unknown mineral but so far no one can tell us what it is, and fewer even care" Ghira explained.

"Giant Scorpions, giants worms, giant centipedes, if this world has Giants spiders my second in command is going to move to the _Retribution_ Station and never set foot on Remnant again." Curtis said with a slight laugh. "But onto clearing out these monsters. I feel I know how to get them out, but it will make the Terraforming process longer."

"What ever you can do, do it." Ghira stated with determination.

Curtis just stared at him with a look that stated he really didn't want to give his next order. He held his hand up to his Comm. Link headset and contacted the _New Dawn_. "Recall all Pelicans and re-arm the Longsword with Fury class warheads and prep the Plasma lance. We may just have to glass the place."

The captain of the New Dawn seems undisturbed as the area was uninhabited by anything sentient. "Understood Commander."

Ghira stepped forward. "I am sorry, but what do you mean 'Glass the place'?!"

"Nuclear and plasma weapon will burn the desert's surface until all Grimm are exterminated and the surface become what is known as lechatelierite which is a mineral similar to glass. Terraforming will be hard but not impossible as we have developed this technology to hopefully reclaim our lost worlds...after we rip the Covenant a new one that is." Curtis explained as the _New dawn_ began to move over the mountains.

"Wait!" Ghira exclaimed. "You have to be careful near the mountain ranges and any large rock deposits. That strange mineral? It conducts energy, like Dust almost but much more powerful. Your weapons could cause this whole island to detonate."

"You have got to be kidding me." Curtis states as he once again buries his face in his palms as he wonders why everything seems to be going against him. He calls up the _Dawn_ once again. " _New Dawn_ , glassing order is rescinded. Prepare for aerial support and ground invasion and tell the troops to watch were they step. The Grimm here live underground and the minerals in the rocks channel energy, so a plasma beam or nuke will blow this whole island up like a freaking HAVOC"

"Damn. Guess we have to test the Plasma beam another time." The Captain replied. "I don't like the idea of fighting an underground enemy however. But I think I know a trick that may help. See you on the other side, sir."

Curtis sighed. "I don't like sending my troops into situations they cannot win. If the terrain is mostly sand, then wide heavy tracked vehicles will be our best option. To wide to be pull down, to heavy to lift and firepower to kill. That plus bombing runs to drive them out of their holes should work."

"We will lend any aid we can." Ghira added.

Curtis thought about it. "Got any troops that know the terrain on that side?"

"A few in the local police force." Ghira stated.

"Good enough. I'll have them help lead teams of armor through the wasteland to see what we can do about these worms and anything else." Curtis stated with finality. "Air support and heavy ground force vehicles will be our main weapons, I want NO troops on the ground if these things work like how I think they do. A commander may order his troops into battle, but not to a certain grave."

[Pelican Zeta 712, Menagerie Wastes, Menagerie, November 10, 2553]

5 teams comprised of Scorpions, Grizzlies, Rhinos, Cobras, Kodiaks and Wolverines backed up by 4 G77 Pelican gunships, one G81 Condor gunship, 6 Vultures and 10 Frostravens along with 5 Nightingales began to travel through the wastes. A Member of the Kou Kuana Police force sate in the machine gun turret on the M808Cs that let the ground forces with Ghira himself opting, after much debate by Curtis who didn't want to send him to which his wife agreed, lead the charge. Curtis, having other matters to attend to left aboard to _Porter_. He trusted his men, he trusted Ghira. They wouldn't fail him.

In the air, a G77S Pelican gunship followed from above, it and the other keeping an eye out for seismic activity as so far, they had only seen normal Grimm types. They had pushed halfway up the wasteland when Zeta 712's scanner began to pick up multiple contacts.

"Heads up down there." The Airforce pilot called out over his Comm. Link. "We got multiple contacts coming in from the southwest."

Ghira looked out with a UNSC Spotting scope and saw the incoming bulges of dirt indicating the presence of the subterranean Grimm. "Hmm. I heard that things like them don't like loud noises and we have a lot of big guns. Let's shake them up a little."

The Driver of the Tank he was on laughed. "I like this guy. He speaks Tanker!" The Driver stopped and began to turn the 90mm M512 smooth-bore high-velocity cannon on to its targets along with the other tanks. Between the M808Cs with 90mm guns, the M808Bs that had their 90mm guns replaced with the 105mm guns and the M850 Grizzlys with their 120mm twin cannons, hell was unleashed by the UNSC forces. HE shells were the order of the day as the massive pressure waves and sound drove back the Grimm as a Tank group gave chase lead by a Modified M808S referred to as a 'Lockdown' Scorpion, when in fact it was just a M808B with a new 150mm M990 electrothermal-chemical smoothbore cannon, better armor, a more powerful engine and a Battering ram. One of the older Graboid like Grimm tried to charge the tanks, ignoring the loud sound and charged the Lockdown tank. The 50 ft worm burst form thee ground. The M808S were lighter than normal Scorpions due to the new armour and thus were faster. The Battering ram brought the weight back up, so the Grimm felt 66 tons of Metal going 80 Miles per hour ram into its armoured bone head. Needless to say, it didn't survive with the M808S pushing it back and tearing though the body as it began to dissolve away into the black smoke. Hellbringers that sat on the side of some of the tanks and other vehicles lit up the smoke with their throwers, not wanting to find out if breathing in Grimm smoke was hazardous or not.

More Grimm tried to charge but fell to the heavy guns and cannons of the Joint UNSC-Menagerie strike force. However, they quickly found less and less of the subterranean terrors than one would have thought.

"Someone remind me why no one tried claiming this land before?" One Wolverine driver said as he fired two Argent V missiles on an upward director as a worm that launched itself out of the ground and was then destroyed in mid air.

"We didn't have tanks, asshole." A female member of the Menagerie police force that rode along on the Lockdown scorpion shot back. "Hell, I don't think anyone on remnant even **uses** tanks. Atlas just has mechs last I heard."

"They only use mechs?" A Vulture pilot asked. "Thats dumb. We have mechs, but we still use Tanks. Hell, even the Covenant uses tanks!"

"Can the Wraith REALLY be considered a tank?" a Grizzly driver asked as all UNSC troops groaned. Not this debate again. "They fire in an arc!"

"So, does my freaking Rhino!" A Rhino driver shot back. "And it's still a tank!"

"An Artillery Tank." The Grizzly driver pointed out. The Troops groaned as the Grimm began to fall to their guns.

[ _10 minutes later_ ]

Ghira was having fun. He stood on the tread top of a M808S Lockdown as it plowed though Grimm. They found a smaller loud legged version of the worm the Marines called Shriekers. They were heat seekers and thus they ran right towards the tank columns. It laughed as the grimm, both these new creep looking creatures and other types like Beowolfs fell to both gun and iron.

He saw something up ahead. "Woah slow us down." He said over a comm. link he had been given to the scorpion driver. "What is THAT up ahead?"

A wrecked vehicle was seen over on a large rock pile. Its was damaged and out of commotion but it was familiar to the UNSC troops who looked at it in pure terror.  
Ghira looked puzzled "Maybe we should send someone to inves-" he was cut off as every gun present opened fire on the wreckage. That machine which had brought such pain and terror to the UNSC on countless worlds,the Covenant Phantom.

[UNSC _Prometheus_ , 8 Light years form Remnant system, November 10, 2553]

The Paris class heavy Frigate was out on patrol along with the _From the Ashes_ while _New Dawn_ and _William D. Porter_ were still on Remnant. _From the Ashes_ was off Patrolling anther sector while the _Prometheus_ sailed along, scanning for anomalies.

Its Captain, a once brilliant Longsword Pilot Lieutenant for the Air force now Captain in the Navy, Carmen Ibanez watched as her ship sailed through the void calmly until the ship's AI spoke up.

"Detecting vessel 30,000 kilometers away ma'am. It appears disabled." The dumb AI, Corvus who took the appearance of a 18th century Royal Navy Captain minus the hat who emitted a cool blue color stood on a Holotank next to Captain Ibanez's Command chair.

"Is it Covenant?" The Captain asked as the bridge crew seemed tense at the tough of the invaders finding them so quickly.

"Negative. No known UNSC, Civilian, Insurrectionist or Covenant technologies or designs present. Conclusion, a new species." Corvus responded.

"Great, a first contact situation. Not like meeting the Covenant went well." Carmen rubbed her temples to stave off the coming headache.

"Their vessel is strange. Semi-biological components detected. Structure seems to be two Y-spaced sections connected by a central rotating connection point." Corvus began to explain. "Multiple Fighters and Nuclear weapons detected. No shields, advanced armour or other significant weapons worth mentioning except other smaller ship-to-ship missiles. Vessel is adrift seeming after dropping to normal space. Addendum: No radiation constant with Slipspace travel present. Conclusion: Vessel operates it own Faster than light drive that doesn't operate on slipspace."

"Well that's new." Carmen stated. "Any signs of hostility?"

"Negative. Vessel seems to be attempting to stabilize itself to conduct repairs." Corvus stated.

Carmen looked out at the void before her then at a screen which showed a readout of the strange vessel. It was damaged, and they could just leave, or they could render assistance. Did she even have authority to do such a thing? What if they open fire? Enough nukes could damage her ship and this ship had Nukes to spare. She clenched her fists and looked at her helmsman.

"Bring us along side slowly." She ordered before turning to her Comm. Officer. "Hail them and ask if they need assistance. Corvus will help in translating their language if the translator doesn't work."

[Unknown Vessel, 8 lightyears form Remnant system, November 10, 2553]

The _Prometheus_ was surprised when the strange ship contacted them back in binary of all things before switching to English. The first voice had been robotic, likely some form of AI while the second was distinctly female. Carmen felt uneasy as her ship pulled up alongside the starfish vessel before her.

"Play the message back for me, Corvus." Carmen asked as she stood next the bridge Holotable.  
Corvus did as she asked and replayed the message. " _This is Cylon Basestar 5-3-5-4. Our hyperlight drive has malfunctioned due to a fault. We would be happy for any assistance you can provide us._ "

"She sounds human." Carmen stated.

"Forerunner Eternal-Light-Of-Dawn also sounds human though normal Communication lines." Corvus pointed out.

"Good point, but still. For a ship with advanced FTL this ship probably could take on an old Diligence-class destroyer, but a Hillsborough, Thanatos, and Halberd class would wreak it." Carmen said. "I mean only anti ship missiles only? Have they never heard of Chaff or ECM?"

"Possibility: They have never encountered a race whose computer prowess rivals their own." Corvus pointed out as the _Prometheus_ stop next to the hulking Basestar as they called it. It was about a Kilometer long but was about 200 or so feet shorter than a Halcyon Class Light cruiser.

"You may be onto something." Carmen stated. "Have two Pelicans loaded up with supplies and keep the shields up in case they try anything. I am heading over there myself." She looked over at her XO. "You have the conn. Don't break her."

A few minutes later, the once confident Captain began to feel a slight outset of nervousness as her dropship began to pull up into the hanger of the massive starship. The two-pelicans touched down with zero difficulty and found themselves in a large plan looking hanger filled with robotic workers and heavy gunships. A Lone woman with blonde hair approved the UNSC drops ships as the crews opened the rear ramps. Carmen was one of the first out to greet her.

"Hello. I am Captain Carmen Ibanez of the Paris Class Heavy Frigate UNSC _Prometheus_." She introduced herself to the very human looking blonde. "We were out on patrol and came across your vessel and came to render aid."

"Funny." The Blonde bombshell of a woman crossed her arms. "I didn't think humans cared for Cylons or that you would approach one of our Basestars after crossing the Armistice line."

"I am sorry, Armistice line?" Carmen looked confused. "And I am sure The United Earth Government has no record of any Cylons in our history."

"What did you just say?" The Blonde woman look at her surprised.

"That we have no records of you people?" Carmen was getting more confused by this woman.

"No, the other thing. You are from Earth? The 13th colony?" The Woman asked

"We are from the UEG, but not everyone on my crew is from Earth." Carmen stated. "I am. However, Earth is NOT a colony, it's our homeworld"

"...You have forgotten your brothers and sister of Kobol?" the woman asked.

"I am thinking you have us confused for someone else." The UNSC captain finally stated. "Look, our first contact record isn't the best and your ship needs repairs. How about we see if my men can help you while you tell me what you are talking about?"

"I do believe that can be arranged. I am Six by the way." The woman now calling herself Six said as she then leads the UNSC repair team to the heart of her ship.

[ _20 minutes later_ ]

The problem was similar to what UNSC ship deal with on a daily basis, a misaligned drive due to overuse. The crew got to work with what six called, Centurions, which were sentient AI of which she was also, just a model with flesh.

Carmen found herself in a rather plain room drinking what she was told was coffee from a planet called Aerilon after Six, who was of a model like of human Cylons told her story to Carmen. Carmen in the meanwhile had started to wonder if this is how Commander Curtis felt like upon being told the backstory of the Galaxy from Defiance and Dawn.

"So, let me get this straight." Carmen started as she tried to get Six's story in order "You guys are a race of what the UNSC would called Dumb, not literally, AI in robotic shells made to do everything form babysitting to military actions that upon becoming self aware and...religious of all things, rebelled against your makers as they kept you as slaves and generally mis-treated you as jus machines despite your growing sentience. After a 12-year war you agreed on a truce and peace and left these 12 colonies who are in fact made entirely of humans who believe earth to be their long-lost colony?"

"That's a summary of the events, yes" Six simple stated as she sipped her coffee.

"I would normally ask: What are you smoking, but the presence of your centurions is quite a bit of proof as the UNSC has not made robotic soldiers before." Carmen said before adding. "Unless you count the Spartans."

"Spartans?" Six asked curiously.

"Genetically enhanced super soldiers." Carmen answered, "That's all I know of them, the rest is covered in so much black ink I could repaint your ship and mine 50 times over with it"

"Hmm." Six set down her cup. "Normally I wouldn't speak to a human but then again, I didn't know others existed outside of the 12 colonies. Much like them, I thought Earth to be a myth."

"Well if the Covenant find it, it might as well be" Carmen said as she looked down at her mug.

"You have to admit the idea of a religious machine race is not as crazy as your homicidal Religious Alien cultists" Six quipped.

Carmen laughed a bit. "Ya, I guess you are right." A TACPAD in her pocket vibrated, she pulled it out and look at the message on the screen. "Look like my troops just finished fixing up your jump drive. Your ship should be good to go, but they say you may want to stop by a proper mechanic as your ship is... alive."

"Ah, right, our biomechanical nature." Six smirked at the Captain. "First time encountering something like this?"

"Ya, ships that can bleed is definitely a first." Carmen stated.

"Don't worry. It harmless." Six stated. "There are just one last things I want to ask of you and that is about your AIs."

"Let me guess, want to make sure they are not mistreated like the Colonials did to you guys?" Carmen asked. Six just nodded her head. "Well I'll be honest with you. Dumb AI which are like you guys, meaning AI created solely out of computer software are self aware but not to the extent of Smart AIs and the debate of weather AI are to be given rights is still being argued in court, though the verdict, last I checked, is leaning more towards AI rights. AI are treated as members of a crew, often many forget they are talking to a computer, especially with Smart AI. And with Smart AI the line is further blurred due to them being made form scanned human minds essentially making them humans. Some like Kalmiya or Solara back in our fleet would definitely show you how human like they are. The only thing I say keeping the bill back with Smart AI is due to their... condition."

"Condition?" Six asked.

"Smart AI have a lifespan of 7 years before they experience what we call Rampancy." Carmen explained. "They think themselves to death and so far, no one in the UNSC has found a cure."

"That terrible." Six looked shocked.

"AI like Solara would just brush it off and look at the now and not the then, but she is 3 years old. She is scared." Carmen stated.

"Well maybe we can help one another." Six suggested. "We know a few tricks ourselves. Maybe a mutually beneficial alliance? Granted I would have to go back to the other and have a council vote but all the same."

"I see that be quite helpful." Carmen stated. "And help is something we are in need on but then again, my own commander would have to be informed. Any way that we can contact you at a later time?"

"Our ships patrol this area from time to time. I think we can come up with a meet up date at some point." Six smiled "This could be the start to a beautiful alliance."

"Hopefully." Carmen said she looked up at the ceiling. "You know, this encounter has got me thinking of an old question. What else is out there? Who have we yet to meet?" She looked back at the Bombshell of a Cylon with a smile. "This I feel is just the beginning of one hell of a journey."

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	12. Story Interlude: Timeline

**Halo Outbreak Timeline**

Billion+ years ago: Precursors come from their come Galaxy the Large Magellanic cloud and enter a lifeless Milky way. They begin to seed life through the Galaxy. Humanity is not one of them.

60+ Million years ago, The Ancients from the Alteran Home Galaxy come to the Milky Way and settle on Earth and begin to seed human life on other worlds.

15 million years ago: The precursors created the Forerunners, believe them to be suitable bears of the Mantle. They also take notice of Ancient Humanity

10 Million years ago: Unknown plague begins on the Ancient humanity new capital, known as Vis Uban, the deadly disease would spread across much of the galaxy. The Ancients leave The Milky way with their unique form of FTL (Interstellar and Intergalactic Hyperdrives) which hold some similarities to slipspace for the Pegasus Galaxy. Humans left behind build their own empire form left over Ancient tech and designs derived form local races. The Precursors decide Humanity is a better race for the Mantle, decided to pass down the Mantle to humans instead. Forerunner-precursor war begins.

5 million years ago: Race known as Leviathans notice other races that create AI constructs end up fighting them in an endless cycle. They build the AI known as the Catalyst to solve this problem. Catalyst betrays the Leviathans. Reaper Harbinger is born form the remains of the Leviathans. First Harvest of races in range of Mass Effect FTL travel begins. Construction of Mass Relays and Citadel begins. Forerunners take little interest

107,445 BCE: Human discover powder like substance in crashed ships. Substance fed to local animals in their empire. Animals begin to act radically, becoming hostile. The symptoms are passed onto anyone the creatures can infect. Human empire dubs this parasite the Shaping sickness or The Flood. They begin to glass any world with Flood Infections, even Forerunner worlds. The Forerunners believe this is an act of war despite Humanity telling them other wise. The Human-Forerunner war begins.

106,538 BCE: Primordial found at the edge of the Galaxy by Humanity. The answers given by the Primordial to the humans' questions about the Flood are so traumatizing they are believed by Forthencho to have demoralized humanity to the point of contributing to their defeat against the Forerunners later on. 'Cure' for Flood found and used by Humanity. Remaining Flood ships leave the Milky way and are not seen again for 9000 years.

106,445 BCE: Human-Forerunner war ends in Forerunner Victory. Humanity regressed to a pre-industrial society. Builders take notice of the Growing Reaper numbers and their Harvest. They however simply trade with the less capable vessels for data on their harvests and Relays. The Prothean race begins to evolve. The Asgard race begins to evolve. The Nox begins to evolve.

98,445 BCE: Construction of the Halo Array begins under direction of Master Builder Faber.

97,745 BCE: Flood infected ship crashes on G617 g1. The Flood-Forerunner war begins.

97,546 BCE: Lifeshaper Librarian begins to Index all life in the Galaxy. Mass Relays taken from areas of the Galaxy to be used as Improvised bombs or Weapons by the Forerunners and later the Flood. Charon Relay taken from Sol System.

97,445 BCE: Flood-Forerunner war end in Pyrrhic Forerunner Victory with the firing of the Halo Array. Seeding of All indexed life begins shortly afterwards. The Librarian Dies on Erde-Tyrene (Earth)

70,000 BCE: After rediscovering Mass Effect technology, the Protheans develop a massive galaxy wide empire.

50,000 BCE: The Prothean empire reaches it peak when the next harvest begins. The Protheans fight the Reaper but fail. War is relatively unknown by races existing outside the Mass Relay Network except for a Few like the Asgard and Nox. Prothean-Reaper war ends in Reaper Victory. Protheans are Harvested and turned into the Collector servitor race for the Reapers.

22,000 BCE: Goa'uld race find and reverse engineers Ancient technology and learns to operate their Stargate network

10,500 BCE: A parasitic race of conquerors known as the Goa'uld find Earth and set themselves up as gods and taking Humans as Hosts and reseeding them in far off parts of the Galaxy.

10,000 BCE: Ancients evacuating form their city Ship Atlantis from the Pegasus Galaxy return to earth. Unable to restart their empire they breed and integrate with the local human population.

5,000 BCE: Forerunner shield world dubbed Kobol by Humans it shielded from the Halo array.

4,000 BCE: Humans form Kobol create robotic AI servants called Cylons. These robots rebel and are driven form Kobol

2,995 BCE: Humans lead a rebellion against the Goa'uld and drive them from Earth. The Local Stargate is buried.

2,200 BCE: San'shyuum Schism begins.

2,100 BCE: Schism ends in Reformists Victory.

2,000 BCE: Kobol humans leave Kobol and travel to a Binary star system and establish 12 colonies.

938 BCE: San'Shyuum-Sangheili War begins.

852 BCE: San'Shyuum-Sangheili war ends in stalemate. San'shyuum-Sangheili Alliance formed. Writ of Union was penned and initiated, and the Covenant was kindled.

580 BCE: The Asari Republic after developing FTL based on Prothean designs discover the Citadel.

520 BCE: The Salarian Union find the Citadel and the Asari. The two races begin a beneficial trade agreement and alliance.

500 BCE: Turian Unification wars Begin. Hostile Chieftains wage war with each other, however one begins to assimilate factions into itself and forms a new Hierarchy. This new Hierarchy, after killing the chieftains of other colonies and assimilating their forces, challenges the old Hierarchy at Palaven. The newre, xenophobic and ruthless Hierarchy wins and the new Turian Hierarchy takes control of Palaven and all her colonies. The Hierarchy begins to expand its Navy.

1 CE: Salarian and Asari joint expedition through an unexplored reley encounters the Rachni. The Rachni wars begins.

10 CE: Turian naval forces encounter Rachni ships and swiftly destroy them. Turian forces also encounter the citadel and the Asari and Salarians. The two citadel races ask the Turians for aid and the Turians comply.

300 CE: Rachni wars end in Joint Citadel-Turian victory. Rachni declared exterminated. Turian forces turn their guns of Asari and Salarian forces, declaring the Citadel to be theirs be right of conquest. The Salarian Union opts to stay out of the main fighting, leaving the normally peaceful and diplomatic Asari to fend for themselves. the Republic-Hierarchy war begins.

350 CE: While not officially at war, the Salarians aid teh Asari as Special operations units, providing valuable intel of Turian movements. The Turian's response, find a planet called Tuchanka and the war bred race known as the Krogan. They uplift them and have them fight for the Hierarchy. They Happily agree to join the Bloodshed on the side of the Turians.

700 CE: The Salarian Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of teh Salarian Military becomes its main branch as the Salarians are not built for war, as such they restructure their military around the idea of espionage and stealth. With stealth warships at their disposal, the STG become a great aid to Republic Warships. War beginning to turn in The Hierarchy's favor.

710 CE: Salarians develop bioweapon to stop the Krogan shocktroopers, named the Genophage. Weapon is more effective than expected as its spreads to all Krogan. Birth Rates decrease is pre industrial levels. Krogan can no longer reproduce as fast as they once did. As Krogan numbers fall, the Republic and Union begin to take back lost territory.

795 CE: The Republic and Union send massive fleets of Dreadnoughts and other warships to retake the Citadel form the Turian and Krogan. The Battle of the Citadel begins. Battle ends four days later as Pyrrhic Republic-Union victory with the destruction of 80% of the Allied fleets agaisnt Turian warships.

800 CE: Republic-Hierarchy war ends in a ceasefire. Both side can no longer continue the fight, but neither has lost. The Hierarchy gives a list of demand for the cease fire, such as no other race can have more Dreadnoughts than they can, else they will see it as an act of aggression and will attack said nation without remorse. They also forbid the study into artificial intelligence, calling the creation of a machine as intelligent as a organic being as a threat to all [Turian] Life, and finally forbids them form opening any more Mass Relays. Both teh Asari Republic and Salarian Union, are reluctant to agree...but neither has an option than to sign the accords. Many find the treaty to basically be the allies surrendering to the Hierarchy, which the Hierarchy denys...openly anyways.

1755 CE: Quarian Race encountered by Asari Forces. The technologically gifted race is welcomed by the Republic with open arms. They Salarian Union is also welcoming of this new race especially with both sides pension for knowledge and technology. They Hierarchy however shows up at the Quarian homeworld of Rannoch with two Super-Dreadnoughts and demands to speak the the planetary leaders. They leave a list of laws, the same the Union and Republic now live under. The Quarians are reluctant, but submit to the demands of the Hierarchy due to not having the forces to push them back.

1895 CE: Quarians race creates the Geth, a Cheap VI labor force to supplement their own workers. They are the closest They can get to AI without the Hierarchy coming down on them like a force of nature. However, several months after activation and constant updates, one Geth unit asks its owner,"If this unit has a soul?". They Quarians are both amazed and terrified. They created true artificial intelligence, but if the Hierarchy found out...both Quarians and Geth would suffer. Geth understood this and a agreement was set that Geth would 'act' like VIs in the presence of any non Quarian races, but on Rannoch they were treated as citizens.

1900 CE: Turian Hierarchy discovers teh truth about the Geth and declares war on the Quarians. The Technological superior race is able to fend off the war mongering Hierarchy due to the Geth's ability so hack Turian ship systems, but it is not enough. Quarians and Geth escape Rannoch on ship as the Turian bombard it into inhabilibity. The Quarian Migrant fleet tried to get help form its allies, but teh Hierarchy threatens both the Republic, Union and other races into handing over any Quarians they have. The Migrant fleet has the sympathy of most of the Galaxy, but no one has the might to Challenge to Hierarchy.

1928 CE: Human rediscover the Stargate under the sands of Giza, Egypt. Stargate moved to United States of America.

1939 CE: World War II Begins. Tests begins on the Stargate to see if it could be used as a weapon by the Allies.

1945 CE: World war II ends in Allied Victory. Humanity enters the Atomic age. Tests on Stargate end. Gate Mothballed for the foreseeable future.

1947 CE: Alleged Spacecraft crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. Cold War begins between America and the Soviet Union.

1961 CE: April 12: Yuri Gagarin aboard the Vostok 1 becomes the first human to travel in space. Humanity becomes a spacefaring race.

1969 CE: July 20: Apollo 11 lands on Luna (The Moon). Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on Luna, and the first human to walk on an astronomical object other than Earth.

1980 CE: Commander Aria T'Loak of the 42nd Asari Commando Regiment onboard the Frigate _Unyielding Salvation_ Discovers Omega station in the Terminus systems, a former Prothean Mining station. The Republic knows that their treaty with the Turians aid nothing of Space Stations and claims it as a Military outpost. Its defensive weapons give even the Hierarchy pause. Commander T'loak is put in charge along with as sizable naval force. The Introduction of Omega forces the Hierarchy to kidnap Salarian scientists to find a cure for the Krogan genophage as so they can regain their old ally. The krogan clan become steadfast loyal to the Turians due to their efforts. Another race, the Batarians, known for their slave trade is given a rare opportunity by the Hierarchy. Prepform raids on other races worlds as well as the Migrant fleet and teh Hierarchy will pay them with weapons and credits. The Batarians eagerly agree and no longer attack Turian shipping or planets.

1990 CE: Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

1996 CE: The United States Military re-activates its 'Stargate' program to learn more about the ring. With the help of Dr. Daniel Jackson, a group of U.S Soldiers, led by Colonel Jack O'Neill travel through an artificial wormhole to a planet called Abydos. Their they discover a hostile alien Warlord called Ra, the Supreme System Lord. After some skirmishes between Ra's forces and the US Troops, Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson manage to get a nuclear bomb onto Ra's Vessel, destroying it and killing him. Dr. Jackson Stays on Abydos and falls in love.

1997 CE: Members of the CIA, after looking into some of the notes on the Stargate, discovers something. They enact a plan that would involve preserving the knowledge for future generations. Now Retired Colonel O'Neill is kidnapped and placed in Cryogenic stasis, along with other hopefully useful such as Captain Samantha Carter, Major General George S. Hammond and many other individuals. They are kept in storage in a storehouse in Cheyenne Mountain itself along with the dormant Stargate.

2021 CE: The International Society of Civil Engineers is established on Earth.

2070 CE: The SDV-class heavy corvette, designed by Master Shipwright Ckmu 'Raboree, enters service around this time.

2075 CE: The Unified Earth Government is formed as an assembly of political leaders and brilliant minds, commissioned by the United Nations, and tasked with attempting to avert the crises of the next century by solving governmental unification issues of colonizing non-Earth territories.

2080 CE: By this year, Earth's nations had put together joint efforts to colonize Luna, Mars, and a handful of other sites in the Sol system, including the Jovian Moons and a number of asteroids.

2129 CE: First iteration of the ODSTs are created.

2162 CE: February: The Rainforest Wars begin with a series of bombings in South America.

2163 CE: December: The United Nations Space Command is established by the United Nations to eliminate the various rebel organizations in the Sol system. United Earth Directorate is formed by more Militaristic elements in the UN and UEG.

2164 CE: The Interplanetary wars had Begun. Alcubierre drive tested an installed on UNSC ships for FTL travel.

2170 CE: Interplanetary wars end in UEG/UED and UNSC Victory. UEG becomes the full military power of Earth with the UNSC as its Military. UED creates warp capable Sleeper ships and sends them off in hopes of creating a nation separate from the fledgling UEG.

2178 CE: Office of Naval Intelligence is founded.

2204 CE: The Unified Earth Government gains full autonomy in an effort to maintain Earth's power across numerous interplanetary colonies. The Unified Earth Directorate escape of several hastily made Warp ships to follow is previous sleep ships expedition.

2291 CE: Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa secretly developed the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive, a practical means of propelling spacecraft across vast interstellar distances.

2302 CE: New Mombasa is selected as Earth's first city to have a space tether: The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator.

2310 CE: The UEG unveils it first line of Colony ships.

2332 CE: The Ross-Ziegler Blip is discovered by two Earth geologists, unknowing it relation to the prior Halo Array activation.

2362 CE: Ships like the Odyssey and Remnants of Sol are launched. Reach Colonized by Odyssey. Remnants of Sol is lost.

2390 CE: The colonization of the Inner Colonies is fully underway. There are 210 human-occupied worlds in various stages of terraforming, and the population burden across human-controlled space is largely stabilized.

2403 CE: The HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis enters service with the United Nations Space Command.

2462 CE: The Unggoy Rebellion occurs. After much conflict in the Covenant, an Arbiter is sent in to end the rebellion. The Unggoy homeworld of Balaho is partially glassed by the Covenant in response to the rebellion. Its conclusion marks the beginning of the 23rd Age of Doubt and the ascension of the High Prophets of Tolerance and Restraint and the High Prophetess of Obligation.

2468 CE: Harvest is Colonized.

2470 CE: November 3: Preston Cole is born on Earth. Construction of the Phoenix-class colony ship UNSC Spirit of Fire begins.

2475 CE: A number of civilian uprisings against the Unified Earth Government broke out in the Outer Colonies between this year and 2483.

2465 CE: December 10: Thel 'Vadam is born in Vadam, Sanghelios.

2490 CE: Human space encompasses more than 800 worlds throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.

2494 CE: The first Rebel insurrection in the Eridanus System begins.

2495 CE: The UNSC takes control of the station UNSC Hopeful and adds fusion reactors and a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, turning the Hopeful into the largest mobile battlefield hospital in history.

2497 CE: The Colonial Military Administration's involvement with the Eridanus cell of the Insurrectionists is made publicly known. The CMA's power begins to shift toward UNSC control.

2498 CE: ONI begins moving older top secret assets to more secure sites. This includes The old US Stargate and its cryogenically frozen personnel. ONI opts to not dethaw teh 21st century humans as of yet. They are stored in a ONI Station in undisclosed deep space.

2502 CE: March 13: Jerald Mulkey Ander, the leader of the Secessionist Union on Harvest, is assassinated by Avery Junior Johnson as part of Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE.

2506 CE: ORION Project—the first attempt by the Colonial Military Administration to create and train teams of super-soldiers for covert military operations in the Outer Colonies—is deactivated.  
Though the Spartans are effective, their abilities fall short of original expectations, and they are far too expensive to develop and field. The soldiers in the program are reassigned to various special operations units. The first successful cloning of a full human brain is performed.

2510 CE: Between 2510 and 2511, the future candidates for the SPARTAN-II program are born.  
December 1: The UNSC Pillar of Autumn is commissioned into service.

2511 CE: March 7: John-117 is born in Elysium City on Eridanus II.  
January 9: UNSC Hornet is commissioned into service.

2513 CE: Spartan-II program begins.

2515 CE: Dr. Catherine Halsey becomes scientific advisor in the Office of Naval Intelligence. Work begins on MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor.

2517 CE: Candidate procurement and training of the SPARTAN-II program begins.

2524 CE: A telescope on Mars, CFHT-Mars, while recording the Rosette Nebula, captures the first ever human photograph of the Covenant mobile planetoid, High Charity. The discovery is sent to Dr. Catherine Halsey for evaluation. A Covenant vessel destroys a Human freighter.

2525 CE: First contact with The Covenant begins and deteriorates quickly. The Human-Covenant War begins.

2531 CE: UNSC Spirit of Fire lost in space. United Rebel Alliance evacuates the Orion arm to leave the UNSC to the Covenant

2550 CE: The Office of Naval Intelligence begins Operation: CATCH-UP, in which Covenant and Forerunner weapons and technology are integrated into a Ship, UNSC Hornet.

2552 CE: August: Reach is attacked and glassed. UNSC Hornet Escapes.

September: Forerunner Lifeworker Eternal-Light-Of-Dawn Rescued from Flood infected Shield world by UNSC Hornet. Planet Remnant found by UNSC Hornet.

* * *

This Timeline is subject to Change and is will be added onto as i see fit, but for now, this is the basic history of the Outbreak Timeline

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	13. The Coldest Winter Ends Today

**Chapter 9**  
 **The Coldest Winter ends today**

Mantle International airport, Former Kingdom of Mantle, November 10,2553

Curtis was reviewing information beings sent to him by his other vessels and form the colony. Some was to be expected like Allison running into trouble with the Nanosuit upon needing to go to the bathroom, of which he had a good laugh at. Other things were not so expected. The _New Dawn_ 's clear up crew had found a crashed Phantom that was NOT one of the captured Phantoms from the _Hornet_. They had destroyed it to prevent any signal from being sent and due to frayed nerves, no one bother to notice it was sitting on a deposit of the mineral they were warned not to shoot at. Needless to say, the dropship was destroyed... entirely. The Second thing of notice was the _Prometheus_ had made contact with a new Alien race called the Cylons who were machines made by an unknown group of humans NOT from the UNSC who got sick of being used as slaves and rebelled for freedom. They were in fact friendly and were offering a chance to help fix AI Rampancy. That was a god send as since he didn't have access to the Forerunner Domain he couldn't do so with what he had, and he didn't want to lose Solara, Valkyr or any of the AIs. Last report came from the _From the Ashes_ which found an ancient structure in orbit of the far rim of the Remnant system. It wasn't Forerunner and he had yet to ask Defiance about it. It was shaped like a tuning fork with a Gyro type ring structure in it center. It was dead as far as the Stalwart's crew could tell. Might be worth investigating later. Mysterious Phantom dropships, Alien robots, Giant Turning forks. Just another day in the UNSC.

Curtis sighed. The artifact was dead, so he could worry about that later and the Phantom was destroyed but it might be needed to send out teams to scan Remnant for other traces of Covenant tech. The Cylon on the other hand was a problem he would have to deal with soon and while Menagerie was on his side, he was still understaffed, and Menagerie didn't seem like it was about to enlist as of, yet which left several ships about to be finished without crews. Mantle was his next destination. It was a large city, very large and held a very large population. However, when the Capital was moved to Atlas, Mantle become a very poor city reminiscent of some cities in 20th and 21st century Earth. Faunus was the main population and the Schnee Dust Company used it for workers in its hazardous mines. Mining was a very difficult job to do but it seems the SDC had not realised it was easier and was safer with newer equipment and techniques which Remnant, Atlas in particular, had. In other Kingdoms you had stores, and services that refused to serve Faunus, but most regular people seemed equally disgusted by this or just didn't know about it. Atlas however had those who openly spoke such racist views openly. The one place that seemed void of this attitude was Atlas academy under the leadership of General James Ironwood. Curtis was glad that someone in Atlas didn't have their head up their own ass, but also knew it would be best to avoid him as he commanded a large part of the Atlas Military. Not all of it but he controlled robotics, a small fleet of battlecruisers and aerial Dropships and the Specialist units or Huntsmen soldiers. Yes, it was best to steer clear of them until the UNSC here had gotten back on their fleet or had linked up with Earth and had the numbers advantage once again that Atlas seemed less of a threat without having to resort to Nukes or Orbital MAC strikes. He didn't like them, but innocent people lived in that city as well.

Curtis pushed the thoughts of essentially holding a city at gunpoint out of his mind as the _William D. Porter_ pulled into the air port and landed at a terminal once used for Atlas ships. It technically was still used but not as frequently. A docking tube, similar to those use on civilian ship terminals or old airports for jetliners extended out and linked to one of the Destroyer's airlocks.

Curtis donned a thick coat due to the cold of the city due to the whole continent, Solitas, was covered in ice and was comparable to living in Siberia in Russia back on Earth. In the warmer airport building Curtis and his guards, who didn't cloak this time, were meet by a man who, if it was not for the black coat with white fur lining, would have been comparable to Santa Claus with his white bread, reading glasses and rather portly form. He however seemed to both have an air of kindness and a look one gave when they were very tired.

"Good day, sirs!" He greeted in an upbeat tone in contrast to his looks. "I am Mayor Nicolas Karmesinrot of the City of Mantle. I must say, it nice to finally meet those who have been helping us out so greatly as of late."

"Good day to you as well, Mayor." Curtis said. "I am Commander Curtis Fletcher of the United Nations Space Command. I have come today to talk about a proposal to help both our settlements out."

The Mayor raised an eyebrow. "I have never heard of any Space Command before and your look Military." His tone become slightly dark with an edge to it. "The Atlesian Military has given us more problems then help. Why would I allow another Military into our already tarnished home?"

"I understand your aversion, but just hear me out." Curtis bargained. "I may just change your mind and hopefully, Mantle for the better."

The older gentleman pondered for a bit. "Fine I will listen, but only because the good people of this city deserve better than what we have been able to provide them. You betray that and... well my father fought in the Great war 80 years ago and he taught me a few things."

It was clear to Curtis this man cared for the people of this city greatly. "You have my word as an Officer of the UNSC."

Mayor Karmesinrot nodded. "Very well then. We can discuss this in depth at my office."

Curtis followed the Mayor out unaware that the city of Mantle had it own eyes cast upon him form the shadows.

Mantle City Hall, City of Mantle, November 10, 2553

Mayor Karmesinrot had a look of utter shock and disbelief on his face. Curtis had told him what he had told Ghira and Kali back in Menagerie and the poor old man was having a hard time accepting it.

"So, you are telling me." The Mayor began. "Than you are form a planet called Earth, which is just one of 800 worlds under this UNSC." Curtis nodded. "A UNSC run by humans. Alien or non-remnant humans!" Another nod. "And that you have been space faring for the last 500 years?"

"Longer if you count the initial space race back in the 1950s and 60s" Curtis pointed out.

"And that you have been at war with an Alien religious cult called the Covenant that wants to exterminate Humanity and that you have been at war for the past 30 years?" The Mayor continued.

"29 years, but yes." Curtis again pointed out.

"And your ship crash landed here on Remnant after a fight with Space zombies in an Infected ancient alien planet?" The Mayor looked at him in disbelief.

"I showed you the full record. Well, minus things that would make you uneasy as the Flood is ...gruesome to put it lightly" Curtis stated.

"I have no want or need to see more of those things than you have shown me." Karmesinrot stated. "My disbelief doesn't come form the evidence, which is pretty damn hard to disbelieve but form the fact that you came to Mantle for help and not Vale, Mistral or Atlas or hell even Vacuo is in better straights then us."

"I don't feel comfortable revealing New Harvest to bigger settlements with high traffic form other Kingdoms as of yet." Curtis explained. "Mantle is low traffic and is in need of just as much help as it can give back. That why I wish to propose a beneficial partnership."

"Yes, your revamping of the city and addition of UNSC technologies and allowing those who wish to join the UNSC for a time being." The Mayor though about it. "Why is your invitation to join temporary?"

"Remnant is not a UNSC world. I have no right to ask these people to fight a war that is not their own." Curtis explained. "They would man patrol fleets around Remnant to keep it safe and help us move our Fleet back to earth to help save our homeworld. Once the ships arrive they are sent back to Remnant via transport."

"And if they ask to stay?" The mayor inquired.

"Then they can stay." Curtis stated. "Granted I can't say it will be a popular choice with HIGHCOM or FLEETCOM, but I doubt they will say no to some extra help. Especially during these dark times."

"And what of Mantle?" The Mayor asked. "What will you do to help us?"

"Well for starters we can help with your infrastructure and finance as our 'Shipping venture' has brought in a large sum of lien that while we are glad for it becoming more than needed as New Harvest uses both Lien and UNSC Credits and it was made to be self sufficient so we have a influx of local currency we don't need as badly as you do." Curtis explained. "Also, our technology can be used to help rebuild and restore your city to it former glory. This along with the addition of civilian transport and Cargo ships will allow Mantle to generate its own income as well as adding a dockyard and UNSC Garrison for Defence in case Atlas begins questioning were all this new stuff comes from."

Mayor Karmesinrot looked very surprised. Curtis was asking for a lot but was giving back as much. A Defence fleet and Garrison? Restoring the city? Generating their own income? Excess Lien? And they were not even asking them to fight for them, just defend their world and help deliver some ships. It was honestly, too good to be true. But at the same time this UNSC that was offering so much, needed help too. 800 worlds. 23 billion burned to ashes. And they were asking for just a little help, not asking them to fight for them, but just a little help to make that fight easier.

"I have to admit, you are offering quite a lot, and it almost seems like you are not taking as much back." The mayor pointed out.

"If I lied or took advantage of you, I'd be no better than those we fight against." Curtis said. "And if I did that, what would be the point? Why fight if you are just as bad as though who you fight against? If say, Vale was just as bad as Mistral during the Great war, do you think Vacuo would have come to their aid or join Mantle and Mistral's side?"

"You have a point there." The mayor agreed as he sat back thinking about this request. "I can't make this decision alone. If I am going to do this, the citizens of Mantle must know. And that is non-negotiable."

Curtis seemed a bit off put about this. He was not ready to fully unveil the UNSC but then again, Mantle was isolated due to having been left behind 80 years ago by Atlas who took it limelight.

"What's the possibility of Atlas finding out about the UNSC?" Curtis asked.

"Honestly, they will likely know but think its just something WE made to become relevant again." Karmesinrot said. "They seem to think everything we do is just us copying them. If this offer of your is true and we can break free of Atlas's control...then I will be happy man."

"Well then." Curtis got up with a look of determination. "Let's go spread the good word"

[ _5 Hours later_ ]

Mantle city square, City of Mantle, November 10, 2553

Many in the city had gather in the square due to an announcement being made by the Mayor. They were not told beforehand as to what it was about, only that it will change Mantle forever.

The mayor stood on a podium overlooking the crowd. "Fellow citizens of Mantle. Long have we been left to rot in the cold unforgiving wastes of the North. Atlas may have abandoned us, but we have been contacted by those who would help us. You have all seen the ships that come to our city and have been brought us aid. Now the leader of these ships has come and offered us a chance for us to regain our pride and come out form under Atlas's shadow." Murmurs broke out over this news. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, The United Nations Space Command!"

Over the city square a large swirling vortex open as the crowd watch in awe and slight terror as the _William D. Porter_ pushed itself out of the vortex and into real space. The massive Halberd class destroyer hovered over the city. As the ship hovered overhead, Curtis came up to the Podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce, Commander Curtis Fletcher, Leader of the Local UNSC forces of this world." The Mayor announced before allowing Curtis to take to the stand.

Curtis cleared his throat as his stood before the now VERY curious crowd before him. H e had not prepared for this. "Greeting to you all. As you know, I am the leader of the United Nations Space Command forces on this world. I am also sure you have a lot of question you probably wish to ask, so I will endeavour to answer a few of them." The crowd began to raise hands and ask as Curtis calmed them down. "Umm, you the in the back row with the...bat wings? I am sorry if I sound insensitive, but Faunus are still very new to my people and this is the first time I have seen wings."

The Bat Faunus shrugged. "Its ok, but I want to ask, what do you mean by 'Forces on this world'? You sound like you are from outer space."

"Technically we are." Curtis answered to the shock of the crowd. "Before anyone go around asking if I am an alien, let me stop you right now and say that I am Human. But I am not from Remnant. My planet is called Earth, the 3rd planet of the Sol system and my people's homeworld." Awed murmurs came form the crowd. "What you saw my ship come out of is called Slipstream Space or just Slipspace. It's a from of Faster than Light Travel. With new innovations we have tweaked it that jumping into atmosphere is possible as well as jumping out but jumping out is hazardous, so I will not be showing you a live demonstration. Next question, umm. Lady in the front with the pink sweater."

The lady looked a bit nervous but spoke up. "Why have you come to our world?"

"It was not by choice." Curtis explained. "Our original ship was damaged in a fight and we made an emergency slipspace jump that dropped us of in orbit of your world. The damage was so great we are still repairing that vessel. Due to being shipwrecked in a sense we set up a colony and made a home in unclaimed land, our ground and air forces making short work of the Grimm present. Next question, you in the middle with the cracked glasses"

The man adjusted his glasses and had a cold demeanor. "You said your ship was attacked and is still badly damaged. My question is, by what?"

Curtis was dreading between this and them asking if they found alien life. He sighed "What I am about to tell you al, I don't say lightly. For the last 29 years, Earth and all 800 of her colonies have been under siege by an alien threat." Shocked gasps came form the crowd. "We tried a peaceful first contact, and all we got in return was one message." He pulled out his holoprojector and played said message.

" _Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument_ " The message said. The crowd was completely dumbfounded.

Curtis continued. "They call themselves "The Covenant" and they proceeded to wage a brutal war against us. Not for resources, not for territory. But Complete and total annihilation of ALL humanity." The crowd was stunned silent. "Their technology, up until recently, surpassed our own. On the ground we could beat them, drive them back. But in space...We have powerful cannons called MACs they had plasma beam weapons. Their shields can bounce MACs, our armour melted to plasma. We only got shields for our ships last year." He began to show images of glassed planets. "Harvest, Arcadia, Algolis, Reach. This are just a few of the world they burned to glass with their weapons. 800 worlds. Billions of people dead." The numbers just broke the minds of those listening. "But if there is one thing the UNSC has never done, its give up. They have us backed into a corner and that is where the Covenant has messed up for now, we have unlocked the secrets of their technology. Where as a ship like the _Porter_ above me would be easy prey for a Covenant destroyer, its new plasma beams and shields make it a match for a Battlecruiser! Our new technologies, if we get them back to Earth, will turn the tide and we will be able to put the Covenant on the defensive for once!" A feeling of hope began to surge through the crowd. "But we can't do this alone. I am not asking you to fight for us. You are not UNSC. I have NO right to ask of you all such a thing, but we do not have the manpower to operate the new Fleet we are constructing and get it to Earth. Help us defend Remnant of it a Covenant ship finds it, which according to a recent report I got, they have. A lone Phantom dropship was found and while it was old, and no signal sent it shows the Covenant at least have knowledge of this system. I know its asking a lot. Believe me, I know. But Remnant need your help. The UNSC needs your help. The Galaxy needs it. So, I am asking you, will you help us?"

For a few good minutes, the crowd stood silent. Curtis sighed, he knew he was not a political officer with the skills to woo a crowd like in recruitment ads, but he didn't think he was this bad. He was about to step off the podium when a voice spoke up.

"I'll help you." Said the bat faunus form before. "Kicking alien ass sound a hell of a lot better then what I was doing before."

"I have always wanted to go to space." Another person added. "I help too!"

"Atlas can't even do its job right and beat back the Grimm! Defending Remnant with people who actually can put their money where their mouth is sounds like a plan to me!"

More and more the crowd began to step forward and agree to help and Curtis couldn't help but smile. Many even saying they would fight all the same, probably those who tried to join the Atlas army and couldn't due to reasons known only to the Icey Kingdom.  
Curtis turned back to the crowd. "It may be an awhile before we get a proper recruitment station up but to all who are volunteering...thank you. Training will be tough, but I can tell you will all give it you best and come out on top. People of Mantle, Welcome to the UNSC and the dawn of a new tomorrow."

[ _2 hours later_ ]

Mayor Karmesinrot sat in his office with a smirk. The UNSC was delivering as Curtis had promised as he watched Pelican Dropship relive what Curtis called Constructors. The little robots began to build and repair Mantle where ever they were directed. He made a promise and was going threw with it. It made the old mayor smile. He was however, sad that he could tell Curtis the whole truth. It was too soon to know if it was safe to do so. He turned around and started at an old Mantle Army military document. After the Great war and Atlas's rise, these documents had been forgotten. Hell, he would bet Atlas didn't even remember this little secret. The file was a beige folder with the words 'CLASSIFIED TIER 1' emblazon in red ink on the front with the old Mantle seal above. He reached out a glass and pulled a bottle of Vacuoan Bourbon out from under his desk and poured himself some. He need a stiff drink due to this one file. He took a sip before opening the file. It was an excavation project named, Operation: Terra Firma. In it was pictures. Pictures of men working. The scientists called in and finally what they found. It was over 2 Kilometers long. Its dark gray hull illuminated by floodlights. On its side, it read 'UNSC Remnants of the Past CFV-83' in faded white paint that was only fully pieced together when someone triggered a computer inside and saw the full name. The hulking wreck of the Phoenix class colony vessel resting under the ice, it Fusion reactors providing heat for the city above. And now the UNSC had returned but didn't know about this ship that had advanced Mantle and later Atlas's technology. He would have to tell them about this later. The Mayor downed the last of his drink before looking out at the city, a pair of kid were messing with one of the UNSC's robotic dog things they called a Crawler as a Marine watched in amusement. The mayor sighed, he would tell them. Just not now.

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	14. Of Maidens and Misfits

**Chapter 10**  
 **Of Maidens and Misfits**

10 km from New Harvest, Rural Sanus, December 7, 2553

The deal made a month ago began to bear fruit as many faunus and humans form both Menagerie and Mantle began to apply to the UNSC or just ask to move to New Harvest. Mantle was the more enthusiastic than Menagerie which was building up its new extension with all it new land. Curtis didn't mind however, the faunus of that island needed a break and he was happy he could help them live more comfortable lives. It was also getting closer to the winter holidays which many in the UNSC still celebrated and many on Remnant who just knew of their Winter Solstice celebration were excited to experience the new winter holiday traditions. Snow had not yet graced their home yet, but weather reports stated that wouldn't last for much longer as many were already dressing warmly. As he had predicted, Atlas had found out about the UNSC but as the mayor had predicted, they through it was some vain attempt to gain their own military which the news reporter stated was a waste of time. Curtis laughed at that as he was hoping to see the look on their face once the Dockyard there was finished. The new Artemis class Battlecruiser UNSC _Endurance_ was launched a few days ago now that they could spare the 620 crewmembers it needed to operate. New troops were being trained and soon the UNSC would be on its feet proper.

Right now, however, Curtis was not thinking of that. He was relaxing. Allison, his second in command and life long friend had convinced him to go out for a drive, maybe even pick up some stuff for Christmas dinner like a ham or something. After her pleading had continued for some time, he lamented and went out with her. Neither ODST was expecting a fight, having only brought their rifles for in case of Grimm. Curtis was driving the modified Warthog the were in, the Gauss turret it carried was folded down and pointed backwards. The truck itself was modified M12S Warthog CST or the civilian hog they had fitted a Gauss cannon too for security's sake.

"Remind me why we had to use such a lightly armoured truck?" Curtis asked.

"Because Hudson and Stacy took the ONI Transport hog we normally use, and I wanted to test this one out." Allison replied as she slipped her feet out of her sneakers and rested her feet up on the dash. The Nanosuit as advertised had become one with her form, though before it did, Curtis had many chances to tell her 'I told you so' due to problems it gave, like when she had to use the bathroom. For now, however it had replaced her musculature and wanting to get away from Angela and Sandra's needles, Allison hand put on a red long-sleeved turtle neck sweater, a pair of jeans and dragged Curtis out for simple drive. The Civilian Hog had doors like most civilian hogs do but Allison had her window open., allowing sunlight and cool air to flow inside. Her crimson hair flowing in the breeze as she relaxed. Curtis just smiled at her. She had been a great friend ever since they meet in the front lines and later when then both become ODSTS. She was a Marine in every sense of the word, and it bled through to her normal life so to see her so relaxed was both rare and nice to see.

"It's nice to be out here, and so close to the holidays" Allison said with a smile. "When was the last time we even celebrated a holiday?"

"Halloween, 2549 on the _Trident_." Curtis replied with a smirk "Where the hell did you find a damn sexy witch outfit?"

"I have my ways~" Allison teased him. "That was a fun day, everyone had a great time on that old destroyer."

"Ya, we did." Curtis said as he looked out on the dirt road ahead. Most areas outside of the kingdoms didn't have proper roads as few found it wise to leave the safety of a village or city. However, as they drove Curtis saw something, no, some _one_ in the distance. They wore a green cloak with the hood up and seem to be having problems.

"Looks like someone needs a hand up ahead." Curtis mentioned.

Allison sat up and looked at the figure. "Could be a thief."

"Nah, they would have nowhere to run and practically anyone outside of a city is armed in Remnant." Curtis explained. "Plus, we are armed as well."

"Fair enough." Allison stated as they pulled up alongside the cloaked figure.

"You lost?" Curtis asked.

The figure lowered their hood to reveal a girl with a light brown complexion, shoulder length straight brown hair and brown eyes that looked very tired.

"I am tired that is what I am." The girl explained. "My horse ran off, so I had to carry my stuff on foot."

"Damn, that sucks. "Allison commented. "Want a lift?"

"Sure." The girl replied looking hopeful, until she looked at the back of the Warthog. "You don't have much space however."

"Have you seen the size of these seats?" Allison quipped. "Two of us can fit. Just put your stuff behind the seat and climb in."

The girl, seeing no other alternatives did so and sat down in the warthog's passenger seat next to Allison. Curtis continued driving along with her now in tow.

"So, what is your name?" Curtis asked.

"Oh, right." The girl began. "I am Amber. Amber Autumn"

"Nice to meet you Amber!" Allison said with a smile. "So, where you are heading?"

"Nowhere in particular." Amber explained. "I am just traveling around, helping out where I can and avoiding this annoying... well I guess you could call him a body guard I guess."

"Woah, you some kinda VIP?" Allison asked. "We are not about to get strafed by a Bullhead thinking we kidnapped you, are we?" She jokingly looked around for such a craft

Amber chuckled a bit and shook her head. "No, he is just...well, like a clingy uncle or something, though he is a huntsman. I just had to get away from him for a bit."

"Well we were just on our way over to this local village we heard has great some great foods that we wanted to pick up for the Holidays" Curtis explained.

Amber smiled. "Starting your solstice shopping a bit late, aren't you?"

"No, we planned and got a lot of stuff already." Curtis said before point at Allison. "This one however, nagged me to go out and get some stuff like Ham, roast beef and more."

"I have a very high metabolism." Allison stated. "My stomach needs food!"

"You eat too damn much" Curtis teased her.

"And yet I am thin and fit." Allison pointed out.

Curtis just rolled his eyes. "You and your damn appetite. If you could, you'd eat the bulkheads off the ships we travel on."

Allison just pouted as Amber laughed at the exchange between the two. They truly seemed like good friends, perhaps more. Amber looked around at the inside of the strange jeep they were in, its dash board seeming more...military than something a normal civilian could get a hold of and the two weapons holstered onto the seat just behind the middle armrest looked powerful.

"Are you two mercenaries?" Amber asked

"Huh?" Allison looked at her confused. "Why would you ask that?"

"Your guns look pretty beefy but not like a Huntsman's weapon and this jeep is pretty high tech, and I did see that cannon on the back." Amber said.

"But, this is the civilian model jeep." Allison noted. "I just put the cannon on in case we ran into something like a Deathstalker or something."

"We are not mercs, we are actually military." Curtis explained. "We just have a new colony set up and due to the treat of Grimm we didn't want to take a normal car. Allison actually wanted to take an up-armoured version of this ship with a modified cannon."

"It's based off designs my dad made to his Hog that he showed me." Allison stated. "I wanted to test it out"

"Like you 'tested' your G81 Condor Gunships?" Curtis asked.

"They work perfectly fine" Allison defended.

"They break so many Safety regulations, I lost count." Curtis teased her.

Allison just pouted at him as she saw something in the road. "Woah! Slow down, I think there is someone on the road."

Curtis turned and looked. There on the road was a hurt young child. She had mint green hair and a dark complexion in a dress crying. Curtis stopped and looked around but there was no one for miles.

"The hell?" Curtis asked. "What's a kid like her doing out here alone?"

Amber looked down, sadness apparent on her face. "Grimm attacks outside of villages or cities often lead to people wandering around aimlessly. Even children." And with that she hopped out of the Warthog and up to the child. She knelt down to help the kid, even took out and offered her an apple as Allison looked around for some bandages in the Hog's first aid kit as Biofoam was...going to be heard to explain. That's when Amber noticed something. A cloud of dust, as if someone staggered nearby, yet she saw nothing. She leapt back and took out her staff as the apparent illusion was dropped. An older version of the girl form before leap after Amber with a pair of pistols and a young man with gray hair who had weaponized boots.

"Son of a bitch!" Allison exclaimed. "Its was a freaking trap!"

"No shit, get the cannon ready!" Curtis yelled back as he grabbed his BR and hopped out of the Hog to help Amber. "Hey assholes!" He took aim. "Get away from her!"

Curtis began to unleash hell form his rifle as the armor/shield piercing rounds slammed into their aura making them avoid his weapon's fire as it packed a considerable punch. A Familiar whirr was heard as Allison got the M68 Gauss Cannon online and swung the turret around.

Amber smirked as she saw her back up. "Surrender you two. Your out numbered."

The gray-haired boy laughed. "Two mercs plus you?" He got in a fighting stance "This will be a cake walk."

"Oh, so you are going to mock us, huh?" Allison asked as the Gauss guns was ready to fire. "Mock this!" The loud **POW** of the M68 Asynchronous Linear-Induction Motor Gauss cannon was heard and felt by Curtis and Amber as the red headed ODST began to unload and destroy the cover of the two would be assassins causing them to have to go into the open were Amber, using a fire dust crystal in her staff and Curtis with his BR55 Service rifle open up and the two, Curtis focusing down the girl as Amber unleashed a torrent of fire that would make a Hellbringer jealous as the gray haired boy's aura held against the flames for a time as they ripped away parts of his pants revealing that fact that he had two robotic legs. This changed things as both Curtis and Allison had seen combat prosthetics and they could be lethal in the right hands. The boy however was kept off balance by Allison turning the cannon on him and him rolling out of the way to avoid a shot. He knew that if their rifles could drop his aura fast, that cannon would make it, and him by extension, non-existent. He had to avoid getting shot, yet the cannon had a fast reload rate. He had to stay close to his target, which he knew was a bad idea. Rock and a hard place. He dashed after Amber, engaging her close quarters combat as Allison could no longer shoot him without risking Amber being caught in the crossfire and thus switched targets to the Green haired girl and Curtis. The girls weapons, a pair of pistols with blades attached to chains, was doing her best to keep Curtis at bay as her weapon prevented him form getting a clear shot at her as he dodged the blades as they swung at him.

"Screw this." Curtis stated as the sound of electricity popping as the hiss of plasma forming was heard as Curtis ignited his treasure, his captured Sangheili Bloodblade energy sword. A Quick swing bisected the chains of the girl's weapons as the plasma cut threw them as easily as they did UNSC Titanium-A. The girl looked surprised and didn't notice Allison line up on her till the last moment. She dodged as the Cannon fired but was caught in the blast and tumbled onto the ground, losing her grip on her weapons. As she tried to get back up a heavy boot was felt on her back, and the cool metal of Curtis's rifle felt against her neck.  
"Surrender." Curtis said in a low tone.

"Never." The girls shot back.

"Well, That's too ba-"Curtis didn't finish as he felt a immense pain in his left shoulder. Looking it over, an arrow has found itself stab into it. There was a third assassin. He broke the arrow which appeared to have a dust embedded head as the girl managed to use his lack of focus on her to escape form under his boot.

"Sweep the treeline! They have a dust archer!" Curtis said as he moved into cover as the archer in question began to rain down the dust arrows. The arrows in question were volcanic dust, and they erupted of they hit the ground, forcing Allison to shoot any that landed near the Warthog. This however, didn't stop her from beginning to unleash the cannon from where ever the arrows came from and the lapses in return shots form the archer told her that her shots were getting closer.

"How does 25 millimeters of fuck you feel, bitch!?" Allison yelled down at the treeline at the hidden archer. Unfortunately, she got a reply as an arrow landed right next to the Hog, the glow of the dust at an angle the cannon couldn't hit.

"Well that's just cheating." Allison commented before the dust erupted sending the warthog flipping and flying. Unfortunately for the archer, due to the weight of the vehicle, the car flew only a few feet and landed back on its wheels with a dazed Allison clinging to the cannon for dear life.

"I hate it when Plasma grenades do that and I hate it with dust arrows as well." Allison sputtered out as she fell of the hog. Such events happening to warthogs seemed almost like a daily thing for anyone driving one in active service.

Meanwhile, the gray-haired boy had come to see his mistake as without back up from either of his companions, Amber had quickly beaten him down and broken his aura. He was out of the fight and the green haired girl was bleeding form her right leg as Curtis Br put 3 armour piercing rounds through it. Both of their auras were drained, and neither was in condition to fight. All that was left was the archer.

Curtis got up and surveyed the tree line. "Well?" he asked the final assailant he knew was nearby. "Your hitmen are down for the count, that leaves you left."

Amber looked around for the archer as well. "I know what you are after! If you want me so badly, then come out and face me!"

Curtis turned to look at the girl he had gotten to know as they drove down this road. What did they want to from her? Before Curtis could ask Amber, he heard a clap. The sound of a person applauding. He turned to see a woman with short black hair and amber eyes in a crimson dress with yellow patterns with a pair of metal blades in her hands.

"I have to admit, I didn't know you'd be coming with friends." The Woman said as she spoke to Amber.

"Just who the heck are you, and why do you want my power so badly!?" Amber yelled back, greatly confusing Curtis. Power? What power?

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. My name is Cinder." The woman, now identified as Cinder said with a slight bow. "And my Mistress has demanded your power."

"Your mistress can kiss my ass" Curtis exclaimed as he took aim at Cinder, the girl shooting him as seething glare for his words. "Amber is with us and you are NOT taking her or anything from her."

"Yes, your annoying companions and their ...oddly powerful weapons have done well in throwing a wrench in my plans." Cinder said to Amber as she smirked. "But it doesn't matter for as brave as your dear knight is, he forgets what he is standing next to."

Curtis looked down to see the arrow he pulled form his shoulder that Cinder hit him with. The ground under it began to glow.

"Delayed detonation. Nice trick" Curtis stated as he quickly grabbed the glowing Volcanic dust arrow and like a javelin thrower, sent the arrow turned bomb flying down range at Cinder, striking down in between her feet. "But next time You might want to use something that doesn't give itself away by glowing!"

Cinder leapt back to avoid the blast, but the shockwave caught her all the same knocking down onto teh dirt path. She got up and dusted herself off as Curtis and Amber had her surrounded.

"You think you have won!?" Cinder welled back as she readied her twin metal swords. "If you think you can take me on then please, do so." Her voice was dripping with malicious intent. There was only two of them. Kill one, then drain the other. Wait, two of them? Where is the third!?

She felt the hair on the back on her neck begin to stand up form a static charge in the air as she turned to look at the Warthog were Allison had once again manned the Gauss turret, the weapon's barrel glowing an ominous blue hue.

"Hey bitch." Allison smirked at Cinder who was rather dumbfounded she had forgotten the damn turret gunner. "Catch!"

Cinder tried to dodge as the hypersonic projectile slammed down into the dirt and sent her tumbling down into a rock, knocking her out cold.

[ _30 minutes Later_ ]

Cinder began to awaken. She couldn't move as she could feel her arms bound behind her back. She tried to look around and hit her head on something. She looked over to see the barrel of the gun that knocked her out. She was in the back of those merc's jeep next to their gods damn cannon! She looked over slightly, having difficulty doing so as her legs didn't seem to want to help as she saw Mercury and Emerald also tied up on the other side. The jeep wasn't moving so Cinder assumed that the leader was still recovering from the shoulder wound she gave him. If she had the chance she'd have make that arrow detonate within him and turn him into a thin red paste across the country side before doing the same to that gods damn gunner. She tired to move into a better position only to feel a shooting pain in her left leg as she tried to move it. The appendage seemed to refuse to do what she wanted. Was there somethings on it? She did her best to move and looked down at her leg...only to see a bandaged stump were it once was at her knee and a cooler slighting in front of the stump that had blood running down its side. The sight and the through of what was before her caused Cinder to slip back into unconsciousness as she fainted.

* * *

Halo is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.

OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.


	15. Well, Things just got complicated

**Chapter 11**  
 **Well, things just got complicated**

Office of Naval Intelligence Interrogation chamber, New Harvest, December 8, 2553

"The word 'screwed' doesn't even remotely come close to describing these assholes' current predicament." Allison stated as she sat with Curtis and Amber in front of a one-way glass window wall.

"This...seems excessive." Amber stated.

"Considering what they tried to do, of which you still haven't told us what they wanted form you, this is what they deserve." Curtis said as Amber cast her eyes to the ground. She would have to tell them her secret.

Allison munched away on a bowl of popcorn as she looked at the wall of windows at the three rooms within. The 1st one held the green hair girl whose name was reveled to be Emerald, last name she withheld. She was strapped down to an operating table and wore the same robes a patent wore when they undergo surgery. The second held Cinder who, after an operation upon arriving, had her leg reattached those kept looking down at it in discomfort. She simply sat at a normal interrogation table, her hands cuffed to the table. The last held the gray-haired boy known as Mercury was held up by two Covenant Energy shackles the held him suspended in mid air as his prosthetic legs were taken form him. The center room which held Cinder had two one-way windows that allowed her to look in at the other two cells.

"Just what do you expect to get from us, huh?" Cinder asked the mirror in front on her she knew Curtis and the others were behind. "I will never tell you anything!"

Curtis just sat with a stone-faced expression and tapped the Comm. Link head set he wore. "You may begin."

In the 1st and 3rd rooms Sandra and Angela entered them along with a few things. For Sandra, it was 2 nurses and a tray of surgical equipment. Angela rolled in with a larger array of tools one would see in a workshop or construction yard.

Sandra started first as she was dressed in full scrubs with gloves on. "Oh hello!" She smiled down at the tried down girl. "I guess you are my cadaver for today!"

Emerald's eyes open wide. "C-cadaver? I am not dead!"

"Oh, I know silly." Sandra giggled. "But you hurt my commander, so you my test dummy for today!" She began to take out different surgical knives and tools. "I don't do many manual surgeries, so I am using you to make sure I don't get rusty." The normally cute and innocent looking girl had a rather cruel and evil look in her eyes as she readied a syringe full of an unknown substance. "But first, I can't have you thrashing around during the operation."

Emerald looked down as she injected the needle into her right shoulder just like a doctor would when given one a check up. "You know you don't have to do this. I'll tell you what ever you want!"

"Oh, I know." Sandra stated in a sinister tone. "You would say whatever I want to hear to make the pain stop." Emerald tried to respond but her jaw muscle wouldn't move. Her arms, her legs everything was frozen. She couldn't move anything but her eyes. "What you are feeling now is the paralyzing agent I injected you with. It will prevent you form moving but not from feeling. Now if you excuse me, I have an operation to begin."

Emeralds head was propped up slightly, so she could see what was happening. One of the nurses took a small marker and drew lines down from her chest down to her crotch. They were just the guidelines for Sandra and her scalpel. Emerald began to let out screams and shorts only to be gagged by one of the mad doctor's assistants. Sandra used a size 23 blade as she began to cut into Emerald's flesh just above her breasts. The mint green haired green began to let out a muffled scream as Sandra ignored it and finished up the top horizontal incision, before doing the same near her waist. All that was left was the vertical incision. Emerald pleaded for her not to, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as the cold steel blade began to cute into her flesh once again. Tears began to stream down her face as the blade cut into her body straight down until the two cuts were now connected. The Nurses and Sandra then began to pull back the skin and muscle open to reveal the girl's own insides to her. Her lungs, her heart, her guts, her ribs. All open for her to see.  
"We should start by removing the small and large intestines and work towards the kidneys" Sandra stated in a professional tone.

"Ma'am, I feel we should fist remove the ribcage first and work towards the heart and lungs." One of the Nurses stated.

Sandra thought about it for a bit. "Hmm, maybe, but I think it would be best to leave those for last."

"Very well, Dr. Thompson." The nurse relented. "Would you like the size 10 blade to begin?"

"Yes please." Sandra asked with a smile hidden behind her surgical mask as she put away the now quite bloody blade she had just used.

The nurse soon handed Sandra the new blade as Emerald looked on in pure horror. "I will now separate the Cecum from the small intestine, but I will leave a bit with the ileocecal valve attached for future reattachment or other such procedures." Sandra stated. "Also, I wish to remove the rib cage from now, so it is not a problem later. Where are the bone cutters?"

"Right here." A nurse spoke up holding the heavy chrome tools that made Emerald look on in fear.

"Right!" Sandra took the cutters. "Can you continue the removal of the small intestines while I remove the rib cage?"

"Of course, Dr. Thompson." The Nurse replied as she now moved over to Emerald's lower half and began to remove the long coiled up organ from her body. The girl could only watch in horror as it came out but what also surprised by how long it was, her mind in such shock that it began to focus on trivial things other than what was happening to her. She almost didn't notice the feeling of hard metal wrapping around one of her ribs until she looked down and saw Sandra face to face with her, the mask down showing the scowl on her face as she held the arms of the cutter.

"You know, there are nerves and blood vessels inside the periosteum, the hard-white covering of your bones. Quite a lot actually. It makes thing like breaking bones super painful. So, try and guess how painful it is going to be when I squeeze this cutter shut, and think about what you tried to do today and what you have done in the past." Sandra explained in a cold, uncaring tone that seemed unbecoming of the normally sweet and caring medical officer. "Do me a favor...and scream."

Sandra pulled the heavy cutter shut and with a sickening snap the first rib was cut through as Emerald screamed a muffled scream that Cinder could only try and not listen too as they continued to remove parts of her while keeping her alive. What human could do such a thing!? What living being!? Even her Mistress would find this appalling, or at least she hoped she would.  
Turning her eyes away form the former beggar girl's live autopsy she turned to Mercury's cell. She slowly began to wish she had not.

In Mercury's chamber Angela walked around his floating immobile form with a modified Humble stun baton.

"Oh, scary night stick lady." Mercury quipped. "You going to give me a parking ticket?"

Angela simple responded by jabbing the stun baton into his gut electrocuting him with 500V of electricity for about 10 seconds. The electrical shock was enough to get the gray haired would be assassin to shut it.

"It was theorised by my counterpart, who is in the process of literally dismantling your green haired accomplice while she feels and sees everything, that due to the natural energy surrounding your bodies, known as aura, that you can withstand much more powerful doses of electricity." Angela explained her he usual monotone voice. "I don't see how much more as a few bursts from a BR55 can pierced some aura users shields but we have since learned that not all aura shields are the same, much like our own energy shielding. I'd put the standard white fang aura user at around the strength of a Sangheili Minor's energy shield. The difference being an energy shield can recharge quickly...your aura does not." She continued to circle him. "I wish to see if you prove to be more durable than those who we have faced over the last few months, though from the field report, I am guessing your aura stacks up to a Sangheili Major and that is not that impressive. Even first gen energy shield systems for the Mjolnir project had a shield strength of a Spec Ops Elite and they have only improved since then." She looked at Mercury who had a very confused look on his face. "Why do I waste my breath? You obviously don't have a clue as to what I am saying so why bother?" She held out a small purple remote. "Let us just begin, shall we?"

"Bring it on, Bitch." Mercury said with a smirk.

Angela hit the button on the remote as the energy shackles that held Mercury began to spark. Bolts of electricity flew out and scorched his body as he began to scream and yell from the intensity of the voltage meant to burn Covenant Combat Harnesses. His shirt began to burn to charcoal and his pants, which were already damaged due to Amber's staff fire dust crystal, began to follow suit. His skin began to turn red and blister as she shocked him before she turned it off.

"Hmm, it seems your aura didn't trigger against the electrical charge. Odd." Angela commented.

"Aura is triggered by the user and it don't protect against everything." Mercury weakly commented raised his head up. "Guess I can't be your shock dummy."

"On the contrary, I still have plenty use for you." Angela commented, and she set up a small hose hung over a metal frame and pointed down at Mercury's head. "I wish to see how your body reacts to changes in temperature compared to our own." She turned on the water as a stream of ice cold water rained down upon Mercury as Angela went over to have a seat and read a book she brought with her, allowing Mercury to just sit there.

"A shower?" Mercury laughed. "Come on, that can't be all you have." A slight rumble was heard, not a threatening one but one he recognized. He looked behind him to the bets of his ability to see an air conditioner set to it coldest setting and blowing straight on him. It was already getting cold, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. At least that what he initially told himself, but as his core body temperature began to fall, he quickly began to recant those thoughts. He was shivering uncontrollably. His fingers, his hands, his arms began to go numb yet sparked with pain. The Water eased the burns of the shock only to bring its own pain along with it, a slow pain. His breathing began to quicken as he began to slowly experience the first stages of Hypothermia.

"It's funny what damage you can do with just some ice-cold water and an air conditioner, isn't it?" Angela asked not looking up form her book. "Your body is trying to warm itself up to keep itself from shutting down but its not doing so well, is it?"

"F-F-Fuck Y-you lady." Mercury stuttered out through his shivering lips. "I c-can t-take it."

"That so?" Angela asked, looking up from her book. "Very well then, I guess I'll have to try something more...old fashioned and rather brutish."

Angela shut off the water and set about digging around in a large tool box for what she wanted. She pulled out a large and bladed knife and walked over to Mercury. She jammed the blade in-between his shoulder blade until it came out the other side. Mercury screamed in agony as she twisted the blade and scraped it against his bones.

"Screaming already?" Angela mocked him with a slight smirk on her face. "I thought you could take it? And what about the whole aura thing?" She twisted the blade more and began to pull it downward, threatening to sever his left arm. "You are really bad at the whole, 'being threatening' sort of thing you know? I mean really? Kinetic dust projectile shotgun boots? I know you huntsmen like to be creative, but why do guys constantly try to reinvent the wheel? What was wrong with just normal guns and blades? I mean you weapons are VERY impractical and that's just you guys. Ok, Miss Emerald weapons are somewhat interesting and semi practical but at the same time they are very flawed."

"You going to talk me to death?" Mercury spat at her.

"No. I just like watching you be in pain. Granted I am a bit tame compared to individuals like my boss back home, Admiral Parangosky, who would make what Dr. Thompson is doing to your companion look tame in comparison, but I digress." She pulled the blade out of his bloody heap of a shoulder and reactivated the electrical shock of the energy shackles as the powerful current of electrical arc out and began to once against burn away at his flesh as the gray hair boy screamed to the heavens in agony.

[ ** _4 hours Later_** ]

In the center interrogation room, Cinder had buried her face into the cold metal surface of the table she sat at and tried to cover her ears with her cuffed hands to block out the screams of her companion's. She could hear as the doctors removed Emerald's vital organ even her own heart and had used machines to keep her alive. Her heart! The green haired Doctor had mocked her with her still beating heart as a machine was used to keep oxygenated blood circulating keeping whatever was left within her alive, which was not much at this point. Mercury had fared no better as he sounded like he could barely breath as Angela shocked, beat, stabbed and cut into his form over and over.

Cinder felt like she was going mad. Was this what they wanted from her? for her to go mad!? Well, they fucking succeeded! She just wanted the screaming to stop! Suddenly, as her prayers had been answered, the noise did stop, the only sound being the low hum of the air conditioner in the wall. She looked up and the windows to the other two cells had been blacked out. What was going on? Was it her turn to face her punishment?

The sound of the door behind her opening was her only answer as a man in a military looking suit carrying a file and a small leather bag came in and sat in the chair opposite of her. She recognized him, he was the one who threw the arrow back at her and knocked her out. He was the fall maiden's damn bodyguard!

"Well then, do you wish to talk to us now, Miss Fall?" Curtis asked her in a neutral tone of voice.

Cinder looked defeated, but not fully. "I...I'll tell you whatever you wish."

"If you try to hide anything or lie, I will know and order your companions killed one after the other until it your turn." Curtis threatened as Cinder's eyes opened wide at the threat. "I am sure you don't wish to have a visit form Dr. Thompson or ONI Agent Rich, do you?" She shook her head quickly as she didn't want ANYTHING to do with those maniacs.

"Good" Curtis stated, "Then let us begin." He opened the file. Normally this would have been of a TACPAD or something, but he felt the old-fashioned paper system had its uses. "Your name is stated as Cinder Fall, is this correct?"

"Y-Yes." Cinder said. "My name is Cinder, but Fall is not my true last name."

"I had a feeling." Curtis told her "Then what IS your true last name?"

"I don't know." Cinder explained. "My...employer never told me."

"You where raised by this employer, your mistress I believe was the words you used." Curtis stated rather than asked. "Who is she?"

Cinder kept her mouth shut and glared at Curtis. She was not going to betray her!

"Need I remind you what will happen if you don't talk?" Curtis asked her in a cold tone. "Not to mention I have other ways of making you talk." Curtis unzipped the bag reveling vials of some strange chemical and syringes. "This is a truth serum. Would you like to try your luck with it and your companions' lives?"

Cinder looked at him in fear and hatred as she looked ta the vials, not really wanting to feel its subliminal effects in her mind, nor actually wanting to let mercury or Emerald die as while they were pawns she had come to like them. Well, at least Emerald, Mercury could be... very annoying at times, but he was very useful.

"Salem" Cinder said glaring at him. "My mistress, the one who raised me, is Salem."

"See, was that so hard?" Curtis asked "So, who exactly IS this Salem and why do they want Amber?"

"My mistress needs the power of the Fall Maiden." Cinder told him. "With it she can being her plans"

"Fall Maiden? Plans? "Curtis looked confused, this was slowing seeming much bigger by the minute. "Care to elaborate?"

"My mistress wishes to see the kingdoms fall to ruin. Its as simple as that." Cinder explained. "As for the Fall maiden... ask her yourself."

"Right." Curtis said, not fully believing her. "And just how does she plan to bring the kingdom's down? With all the huntsman and in Atlas's case of its military, they are pretty well defended."

"The grimm, that's how. "Cinder stated.

"No one can control the Creatures of Grimm." Curtis was getting annoyed now. The UNSC was still new to this world and even THEY knew that!

"Their creator can." Cinder said, a smug grin finding its way onto her features.

"What?" Curtis asked.

"The Grimm have a queen and creator. A Mother if you will." Cinder explained. "Salem is their mother."

Curtis stood aghast at this information. Remnant had suffered at the claws of the Grimm for centuries and this one woman... no... _thing_ was behind it?!

"Where is this Salem right now?!" Curtis demanded.

"I couldn't tell you that even if I wanted to." Cinder stated. "She keeps her home hidden form all. Even me."

Curtis grit his teeth. He had a new enemy, one he was determined to see die in a HAVOC's fireball. But she was hidden for now. "Very well, you have been of great use to us, Miss Fall" he told her as two ONI agents stepped into the room and flanked Cinder

"W-What's going on!?" Cinder demanded as they uncuffed her from the table and prepared to take her away

"We are going to patch up your friends...then wipe you minds." Curtis stated.  
"WHAT!?" Cinder screamed at him, struggling against her bonds and her captors.

"Well we can't just let you go after what we have just done to you and your friend along with what YOU have done to others in the past." Curtis explained. "You will be reconditioned. You will forget everything about this battle and this...interview and then be reconditioned and set to work as Undercover agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Your friends will follow suit." Curtis told her as the guards dragged her off, kicking and screaming. He looked at her one last time with an evil grin. "Welcome to the UNSC, Agent Fall"

* * *

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	16. No brakes, No Stops, No Problem

**Chapter 12**  
 **No Brakes, No stops, No problem**

34th Street, Vale, Kingdom of Vale December 9, 2553

The sound of plasma bolts being fired and melting the ground the hit was becoming deafening, the hum of a Wraith moving into position as Curtis ducked down behind a crashed bullhead to avoid the incoming Covenant Forces. The ODST took out his knife and raise it up slightly above the rock to get a good look at what was heading his way. A squad of Sangheili made up of 5 Zealots. 10 spec ops Unggoy. 2 Mgalekgolo with Assault beam cannons instead of normal Fuel rod cannons and a Wraith driven by a pair of Jiralhanae. No Drones, Engineers, Skirmishers or Jackals in sight.

"Ok. Just like at Reach. The Hinge heads have taken Beacon academy as a stronghold and I got to get past these assholes to reach them." Curtis assured himself before his sighed. "Why is the Wraith escorted by FUCKING HUNTERS!"

His personnel discomfort was only intensified as one of the zealots stabbed an energy sword threw the hull of the Bullhead form the inside, nearly skewering Curtis. The ODST commander wasted no time and quickly got to his feet as the Zealot cut his way out of the downed Tiltjet and charged Curtis. Curtis took aimed and began to unload with his Battle rifle. The three-round burst of 7.62 ammunition began to make the elite's shields flare and they began to drop much faster due to the new ammunition Curtis was using. The barrel of his gun had been modified that a slight plasma coating was applied and a pair of electromagnetic rails in the weapons rifling made the BR a new hybrid rifle. It was just a prototype and was far from ready, but results were promising as the Zealot's shield broke under the sustained barrage and Curtis dumped a final burst into the skull of the 8 ft religious alien warrior dropping him to the ground. Curtis looked at the rifle. Fire rate needed some work and the power was nothing the standard BR couldn't do. The plasma coating dropped their shield much faster but not to the rate he was promised. Well, he couldn't expect perfection from the first prototype.

A loud whirr caught his attention as he looked up to see an Atlas Battlecruiser moving into position to attack a nearby CPV Heavy destroyer and its SDV heavy corvette escorts. Barrages of heavy pulse laser fire lashed out at the Covenant warship as the crimson beams crashed against the energy shielding of the destroyer. The Atlas ship was doing damaged as even a Charon Class could fight off a CPV with its Light coil MAC, but the Remnant born battlecruiser didn't have a MAC equivalent and thus it had only its pulse lasers to pound the shields of the ship with. The Covenant warship retaliated with its plasma cannons and its point defense pulse lasers and the dust power force fields of the Atlas warship couldn't hold up under the barrage of plasma fire and as the giant bolts of plasma melted away at the armour of the airship and tore threw its force shields and the ship's engines detonated. The cruiser exploded, and its remains crashed into the city of Vale below nearby Curtis's position.

"Great. There goes my air support." Curtis grumbled as he repositioned away from the approaching Covenant forces. She got behind a corner and took aim at the easier targets, the Unggoy or grunts. A quick 3 round burst headshot to one and they dropped. As the 10th grunt dried Curtis was forced back into cover as Plasma rifle and repeater round began to slam into the wall he was hiding behind. A Zealot elite in his maroon combat harness holstered its twin plasma rifles in exchange for his sword. Curtis took out his out Bloodblade and engaged the Zealot in combat. The elite was good, but Curtis had long learnt the ways of the energy sword from watching and learning about the Sangheili. The Zealot tried to slice him in two leaving him open for Curtis to stab him in the chest, killing him. Curtis however had little time to recover as he felt the sling of plasma melting away at his ceramic-titanium composite armour as the lead Sangheili bore down on him with a Plasma repeater. He took out a new UNSC Fusion grenade, which was the UNSC new answer to the Covenant Plasma grenade and Incendiary grenade thanks to the left-over plasma fires it made and with one good toss, hit the Zealot dead in his chest. He ducked back behind the wall of the once well-known dust store as the grenade exploded and melted the alien invader to roasted meat and slag. He came out form behind cover...only to fall backwards. The slight sting between his eyes as a faint pink beam of hyper accelerated hydrogen gas from a Type-50 Particle Beam Rifle as a hidden Kig-Yar or jackal Sniper had hit him between the eyes. He fell back, his armour now locked up as the room went dark.

A loud voice was heard over his radio. "GAME OVER. Simulation terminating."

Curtis's armour began to unlock as he stood up in the Wargames simulation room as it began to shut down looking slightly peeved. Jackal snipers where a BANE to the UNSC as the Type 50 was a weapon that gave so little warning. He took off his helmet and held his head, feeling slightly dizzy after the simulated sniper shot.

Miranda walked up to him as he was picking himself up. "So, how did you like our 'Invasion of Vale' Simulation?"

"Not bad. Could used some work." Curtis said as he regained his bearing. "Fucking Jackal snipers."

"Sorry about that, but their behaviour is taken form data pulled form the field." Miranda told him. "Pirates turned assassins. A deadly enemy."

"More like a cowardly and annoying enemy." Curtis added. "Their greatest heroes are all pirates. It like if we celebrated Blackbeard or Calico Jack."

"I though the 21st century was enamored with old timey Pirates in movies." Miranda asked.

"Then the Somalia pirates of the 21st century then." Curtis re stated.

"Fair enough" Miranda conceded. "So how was the XBR56?"

"The Rails seem underpowered and don't give the bullets much more power than a normal BR, the fire rate seems slower and the plasma coating needs adding onto." Curtis told he as he handed her the prototype of the new railgun-plasma hybrid. These were new weapons New harvest was hoping to develop and bring back to the UNSC along with the new Promethean ionized hard light weapons which only held the design of the original Forerunner weapon, as even with Dawn and Defiance's help the UNSC still didn't have the means to manipulate Hard light to make the floating weapons in the same vain as the two floating armour plate on the still under construction UNSC _Hornet_ so the weapon were just titanium frames in the same design as the original weapon with some differences. They glowed a cool blue instead of orange and had things like buttstocks, conventional scopes and more. Curtis couldn't help but chuckle a bit a she though of the Hard-light weapons. "We have had railgun technologies for centuries and we have studied plasma for the past 28 years and yet it's the new hard light weapons we have made replicas of?"

"Defiance was very helpful in reverse engineering Forerunner technologies and while Covenant technology is also reverse engineered Forerunner technology their focus on Plasma over Hard light makes it difficult due to the differing properties of the two matter compounds." Miranda explained.

Curtis sighed. "Very well. Also, what's the progress on the application of Remnant weapons grade dust into out ballistic weapons?"

"A bit of an impasse, sir." Miranda explained. "They use dust as both propellant and for the elemental properties. As a propellant while dust get the job done, all solid projectiles are subsonic in nature. They are lethal, but then again, a 16th century Flintlock pistol is technically still lethal nowadays to an unarmed civilian. Their aura protects against a certain number and type of injures and it differs from whether or not the person is actively on their guard or not. Also, certain weapons can bypass an aura completely given its energy like properties. It's not a plasma coating like our energy shields but it reacts to outside energy in a similar way to protect its user. I have a few boys working on modifying an EMP rifle, EMP Grenades and a Gremlin EMP cannon to fire a pulse that can be used to nullify an active aura similar to how a Plasma pistol can EMP a vehicle or drop a personal shield. But for now, if you wish to drop an aura user, standard UNSC and Covenant weapons can drop their shields like they do on any Covenant ground troop without having to worry of it recharging quickly. If you wish to do it without a fight I recommend a Hard Light weapon, particularly the Binary Rifle for its extremely powerful projectile. Or if you are unsure of the new weapons, the UNSC's own M99 or M99A2S3 Stanchion Gauss rifle or a Covenant Type-27 or Type-50 Particle rifle. Their hypersonic projectiles will nullify any aura and kill the target with ease."

"They are also long ranged weapons that do poorly against enemies who fight up-close like... ALL of Remnant." Curtis pointed out.

"The Promethean Scattershot, Brute Mauler, and our own M45 and M90 shotguns can be used to rectify that problem." Miranda shot back with a smirk. "They aura is powerful, no doubt, but its not impervious and with the fact our weapons have been honed to deal with Covenant energy shields and Nanolaminate armour, it just has no lasting power unless there is someone who can recharge their aura VERY fast. However, all evidence we have found as well as files... borrowed...from the 4 kingdom's Huntsmen Academies, very few to no people posses that ability that are a current threat or even alive still."

"Anyone still alive that does have that ability?" Curtis asked.

"Hazel Rainart, a brute of a man." Miranda looked at a PADD she had with her. "He was HIGHLY aggressive and has been linked to a few murder cases. Lost a sister in a training accident at Beacon academy with a Large group of grimm ambushed her team. She sacrificed herself to allow her team to escape. He blamed the headmaster and holds him personally accountable for the action"

"Damn. I almost feel sorry for him but anyone who takes up the mantle of being a huntsman of huntress knows the risks just like when you join up for the military." Curtis said. "He can't blame the headmaster for his sister's choice"

"Well, you can tell him that if you can find him." Miranda said. "Our satellite grid is far form being ready to be deployed in orbit so for now all that up there is a glorified mining drone, a few ships and an orbital elevator station soon to be joined by a second one over Mantle and possibly a 3rd over Menagerie's new city of Prosperitas that is nearing completion due to the Sentinel Constructors you gifted them."

"They deserved the city after all the bullshit they have put up with. I just gave them the means of getting built faster." Curtis said.

"Well the Belladonna's have definitely thought about your request and it will be put to a vote soon as the city is completed." Miranda told him.

"Perfect!" Curtis said with a smile. "Other than that, anything else I should know about?"

"Master Sargent Ryan Armstrong requested to see you topside." Miranda told him.

"Why can't you just call him Apollo like everyone else?" Curtis asked the ONI agent

"I don't see the point in the callsign nickname thing." Miranda told him as she looked down at her PADD, engrossed in her work.

Curtis sighed. The ONI agent was some he could trust but even without CINCOM watching over her, she was still too engrossed in her work at times. He would hopefully get her to break that little trend and live a bit more in time. "Very well. I am heading up. I assume you are heading back to work?"

"Yep. I have much to do. Revising the new prototype weapons, looking over designs for new armors and sentinels, New vehicle types, new additions made to the new warships, I am very busy." Miranda told him, not looking up from her PADD.  
"Just...don't work yourself to death here." Curtis told her with sincerity. "There are dozens of other ONI officers on the base."

Miranda looked up at him then down her PADD then back to him. "I guess I have been overdoing it a bit. I guess I can hand off some of the projects to the others."

Curtis nodded. "And get some rest. I can see the dark spots under your eyes."

"Ok, I concede. I'll go take a break." Miranda told him.

"Good." Curtis said with a smile. After seeing Miranda off he headed to the nearest elevator and made for the surface. This base, a UNSC Air Force Base head several Wargames Facilities normally used for Pilot training in ground operations, atmospheric aerial combat and Exoatmospheric aerial combat. Curtis had stopped by as the new railgun-plasma Battle rifle was slated for testing and the other bases were still training new recruits by putting them in hellish simulations ranging form operations on Reach, to the Rainforest Wars to even older history battles like the Normandy D-Day Landings , which even with Modern weapons the Recruits quickly learned that just because the German MG42 is over 580 years old...it can and will still drop your ass and its fire rate insures that even a Hunter pair would think twice fore rushing a machine gun nest. It helps that its ammunition is not all that different to what is used in M739 SAW Light machine gun albeit with a MUCH higher fire rate that easier matched the SAW's 900rpm. Curtis couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he saw those father marines of the 25th century fighting in a simulation of a 20th century invasion and surprisingly failing that first two times. They quickly threw away their overconfidence and came around the 3rd try they took that damn beach.

Curtis still chuckled at the memory as the elevator reached the surface of UNSC Airforce Henderson Field. "Whoever found out that a Scorpion could actually stay active underwater thanks to its Hydrogen fueled engine for a limited time and actually drove one off a landing ship and fired on the bunkers from underwater was a mad genius." He said to himself with a slight chuckle still unable to fully accept the ridiculousness of that tank rising form the water to the utter confusion of the German AI gunners. One he reached the surface, he was greeted by the light shining in his eyes form the silver paint of Apollo's custom Pelican dropship.

"Dammit Apollo, your ship is so damn reflective that could see it from orbit" Curtis told him as he covered his eyes.

"Sorry boss. I just gave her a cleaning." Apollo told him. "Anyways, want to get out of this base and do something interesting?"

"Like what?" Curtis asked.

"I got word of a Schnee dust company train passing by near here." Apollo told him.

"We are not hijacking a train" Curtis said immediately.

"Oh, come on!" Apollo whined. "Its not like the Schnee's need the money."

"No, but Vale needs the dust." Curtis told him. "We are military, not mercenaries."

"Well, I also have it on good accounts due to some of our Faunus ONI spies that a very aggressive White Fang leader is planning something with that train." Apollo told him. "We could stop him and... you know."

Curtis sighed. "Ready the pelican." Apollo cheered. "We are going to stop the hijacking...NOT to rob the train ourselves afterwards."

"Fine." Apollo said. "But if anything falls off..."

"I will let you have that." Curtis relented.

"Awesome!" Apollo cheered. "Now suit up and hurry on back. This is going to be fun!"

[ ** _4 hours later_** ]

The silver dropship sailed over a sea of crimson leaves as its followed the train tracks to locate their target. Apollo wore a marine helmet with a visor that only over his eyes, so he could still take a sip of his drink sitting in the cupholder he installed. The Hud of the visor showed the status of his ship and time to target which they began to catch up to. Curtis sat behind him in the upper seat instead of the Co-Pilot's seat next to him.

"Of all the things you added to you prototype dropship... you had to add a cupholder?" Curtis asked.

"These trips take a long time." Apollo replied.

"How did you past flight school with such a lay back attitude?" Curtis asked.

"I am serious on serious missions in which someone could die. We are stopping a few nutcases trying to jack a train and hopefully grab some stuff that falls off. Serious mission, this ain't." Apollo pointed out.

Curtis sighed. While he trusted Apollo as the pilot always helped out his team even under heavy fire, he often wondered how anyone could be so laid back with the situation the UNSC was now in.

"Target in sight." Apollo yelled out as the high speed train came into view. The pelican beginning to slowly fly over it as it raced through the mountains at high speed.

"Alright, get me over it and open the back door." Curtis said. He was in full ODST armour and as he got out of his seat he out on his helmet and moved to the back to grab his weapons. His Bloodblade, Battle rifle, and M6D Magnum were all selected as the lower ramp opened up before him. The train was quite long, like a normal freight train would be on Earth or one of her colonies, however it was moving at a very high speed that most UEG regulations would say is unsafe when hauling hazardous or explosive materials over hostile ground without support. Not to mention most cargo is nowadays hauled by ships and aircraft, with small interconnected train lines used inside large colonies where they were needed.

Curtis jumped out the Pelican and onto a flat car of the train. He could hear the sound of combat within one of the cars. The Hijackers were already onboard. He readied his rifle and hailed Apollo over the comm.

"They are already onboard. Ready your autocannons." Curtis told the pilot as he readied his Battle rifle and approached the car under fire. He entered the car and had to duck as an Atlas made robot knight that had been sliced in two was hurled at the door. Inside was only two combatants. One was a man, about as tall as he was with short dark red hair and two red bull like horns on his forehead that blended into his hair. He wore a full black jacket and outfit along with a white Grimm mask covered his eyes. He welded a red katana that looked extremely sharp...and a little too close to traditional Japanese design. The second hijacker was a girl, her had long black hair with a black bow onto that seemed to stand up a bit too stiffly. Seeing as she was a member of the White Fang, the bow likely held some feature beneath them. Her feline like Amber eyes likely meant she had a pair of cat like ears underneath that bit of fabric. She welded a Katana like weapon attached to what looked like a .45 caliber pistol that somewhat looked like a Glock with a long black ribbon from its handle that wrapped around her arm. He watched as she swung it out to slice down another robot. It was kama or kusarigama, again weapons of ancient earth design, but with a modern take on it.

A robot turned to face Curtis and looked right at him. "INTRUDER. IDENTIFY YOURSELF." Its asked in a menacing voice.

"I am here to help you kick these bastards off this train." Curtis tells the Atlesian Knight as he took aim at the two White Fang. "I am Commander Curtis Fletcher."

"IDENTITY CONFIRMED. ALLIED COMMANDER." The Knight responded as it turned back to the two White Fang intruders.

"I don't remember seeing you when we dropped in." The Red headed bull faunus spoke with an air of disgust upon seeing Curtis. He looked over the ODST armour he wore and his weapon as they were obviously alien to him. "Never seen armour like yours. Atlas finally stepping up its developments?"

"Something like that. Ever heard of the UNSC?" Curtis said. His answer was clenched teeth and a tightening grip by the bull faunus and a surprised look from the girl. "I'll take that as a yes."

"You're the ones swaying our brothers and sisters from our cause to your own!" The man yelled at Curtis. "You sway them with lies and deceit!"

"I would gain nothing from lying to my troops." Curtis shot back. "Unlike you who deceives your entire organization. Yes, your people are treated poorly by the humans of this world, but violence is NOT the way to gain proper recognition! You are only reaffirming the damn beliefs in xenophobic nutcases. You are making the Faunus's situation worse, not better!"

"I don't need to be lectured by the likes of you, human!" The bull Faunus readied himself into a combat stance.

"For the love of…" Curtis stopped and sighed before turning to the Robot from before. "Have your troops focus on the girl, this asshole is mine."

"ORDERS CONFIRMED." The AK-130 responded. "ALL UNITS WILL TARGET THE FEMALE INTRUDER." The robots brought out the triple barrelled gun hand out. The Dust projectile weapons would be deadly against a normal human of Earth or Remnant but he was unsure how they would fair against aura users. Tests with captured Remnant weapons showed that while still powerful weapons in their own right as they could, with some difficulty, shred UNSC body armour they just didn't have the same velocity and thus power behind them as what Gunpowder could do.

"Hope you guys have the fire power." Curtis said as he holstered his BR and took out his energy sword. The twin crimson blades igniting with a hiss of plasma as he readied himself against the bull faunus. "So, you ready to throw down, horn head?"

The instant the words horn head left his mouth, the bull attacked. He charged Curtis in a reckless fashion. Curtis smirked under his helmet. This was exactly what he wanted. He was mad and thus he fought recklessly and without discipline. It kept him off balance. Curtis parried his strikes away with his Bloodblade, the plasma blades actually not melting through the aura enhanced blade of the faunus. His aura must be quite a bit more resilient that his underlings or he just focused the brunt of it in his blade. Time to see which theory was correct. Curtis sent a powerful kick into his stomach only for it to be somewhat blocked by the bull's aura. It however was not as strong as the force around his sword, so it seems he still has some defence.

Curtis pulled back and began to assess the situation. "That toothpick of yours actually blocked 3000 degrees of shaped plasma. I am genuinely impressed." Curtis told him. "I got this blade off a High ranking Sangheili sword master after I beat him in a duel. Granted, I guess that don't mean squat to you. But, that does make me wonder." He held up the crimson blades of his swords at eye level. "Does that mean that it hits harder as well?"

"I can slice through a mech in one swing with this blade." The faunus said "Your fancy toy will not allow you to beat me. You and your tin toy friends won't beat me and Blake."

"Blake?" Curtis asked. "Ok got one name down." The faunus gritted his teeth in anger as he realized that Curtis had played him. "Also, you forgot that besides the robots, its not just me. Or have you not wondered how I got here?" Curtis held a hand up to his helmet "Apollo…rake the car."

A loud whirr was heard as Curtis and the AK-130s who had knowledge of similar tactics got down as the GAU-53 70mm MBHRC autocannon of Apollo's Modified D77 Pelican began to tear into the cargo car. The girl, Blake and the bull faunus dove for cover as the hail of depleted uranium rounds ripped through walls deigned to hold back Standard forms of Grimm that may attack the train in transit. Some of the round struck cases of dust and suddenly Curtis was worried they might go off. Dust only activates with an aura, but it can still be active without on and he didn't want to know what will happen if a case takes a direct hit.

"Cease fire!" Curtis cried out over his Comm unit to Apollo. As soon as the bullets stopped he was back on his feet after the WF Katana user. The Bull faunus barley had the time to hold up his blade to block the strike form his Bloodblade. However, as he did Curtis noticed something. His energy sword was cutting somewhat into his Katana.

"Looks like you got nicked in that hail storm." Curtis smirked at the furious faunus. "Must not have been a direct hit or you would be a stain over these walls. But It was close enough to drain your aura."

"This doesn't change a DAMN thing!" The WF member yelled as he and Curtis began to trade blows with their blades.

"We will see about that!" Curtis yelled back. He got a lucky low strike in as the red headed ball of anger fell to the ground yelling in pain. "I'd say THAT changes things"

The bulls faunus yelled in pain "No, it doesn't" The faunus tried to stand up but couldn't due to where the blade hit his right leg. "Gods dammit."

"I kinda think it is." Curtis mocked. "Unless you can miraculously piece you leg back together. Your aura, as far as we know, doesn't work THAT well."

"You talk…" He struggled to get on his feet, using his sword to prop himself up. "Like you are not even form this world."

"I'm not." Curtis aid, to the Faunus's surprise. "Neither is a large chuck of my UNSC personnel, though we have started recruiting locally. The aspect of working in space and not treated as criminals and fighting aliens is a great way to get people to join up. Lots of them are former White Fang members."

"So, what?" he growled at Curtis. "You are abducting my people!?"

"No, once we do what we came for, we will leave you well enough alone and allow our new UNSC Remnant division to operate itself for planetary self defence and maybe one day give Remnant a chance to join." Curtis explained. "Granted that will be hard without a singular global government, but I am sure we will work around it." He looked at the injured white Fang member. "We are helping your people become a global superpower that surpasses Atlas while you do things to undermined everything your people do for some petty vendetta. Yes, the people of this world are racist to your people. Becoming a terrorist will only re-enforce that mentality, not remove it."

"You wouldn't know what its like, Human!" The bull faunus yelled back at him.

"Yes. I do." Curtis said. "28 years ago, we encounter a collection of Alien races called The Covenant. They proceeded to declare that we were an affront to their gods and glassed out colony world called Harvest. 1 of 800. For the next 28 years…. they glassed our worlds, slowly but surely pushing us all to extinction. You dealt with racism, we dealt with galactic genocide, one that is still on going. You struggle is similar to the Civil rights movement of the 1960s on Earth, our homeworld. Yet, you have gone down a much more violent path."

"We chose our path." The bull said. "We will make humanity pay."

"All of this, and you still won't listen." Curtis sighed. He raised his sword. "Well, I guess somethings can't be helped."

"Try it. Blake will stop you." The bull faunus growled defiantly.

Curtis looked back and saw the girl, Blake, fighting off the AK-130s along with a new large four-legged mech. She was holding her own but the mech seemed to be too much for her.

"I somewhat doubt that." Curtis said. "So, do your surrender?"

"When hell freezes over." He stood in defiance.

"I wish I had one of Stacy's cryo grenades." Curtis muttered to himself. "Well, if that is what you wish…" He got in a battle-ready stance once more "then what happens next, is your own doing."

"I, Adam Taurus, will not die to some alien human!" The now named Adam yelled as he gathered the strength, mostly through the adrenaline rushed at Curtis. His crimson hair began to glow as he readied for an attack. Curtis ready himself and just at that moment when Adam was ready to strike…time seemed to slow for Curtis. Adam was going for a quick draw strike with his sword. Curtis held up his own blades in response and as Adams sword hit the plasma blades, hell seemed to be temporarily unleashed. Sparks and strains of plasma that escaped form the magnetic containment fields due to the force of the strike flew outwards as Adam put everything he had into the strike, determined to cut the ODST down. Curtis however, kicked him in the stomach sending him back and before Adam could recover, the ODST Commander drove the twin plasma blades into Adam's chest, killing him. The Blade seemed to 'drain' Adams life when in face it just absorbed the Iron and Oxygen enriched Hemoglobin in his blood to turn into a gaseous state that boosted its power and gave the welder a slight intoxicating effect that Curtis skillfully tried to ward off as to not go mad form the sudden feeling of power coursing through his veins. He took a series of deep breaths to calm down when a AK-130 came up to him.

"REPORT: FEMALE TARGET SUBDUED COMMANDER." It reported with a salute. "INQUIRY: WHAT DO WE DO WITH HER NOW?"

"Make room for my dropship to land then load her up." Curtis responded. He also thought about an idea and now was the perfect opportunity. "I also need you to deactivate yourself and your remaining comrades for transport aboard the dropship as well."

"ORDER RECEIVED COMMANDER" The AK-130 responded before turning out to go and relay the orders.

Curtis was about to follow it out when he saw the sword and sheath of the fallen Adam Taurus. He bent down and picked up the blade and shotgun sheath as a trophy for his victory. He inspected the crimson blade, it was almost unblemished from his fight with Adam with only that part where he tried to drive his Bloodblade through showing any damage. He sheathed the dust weapon and walked outside as Apollo brought his Pelican down to land. Blake, now in cuff and restrained by the Atlas robots struggle in the bonds of her captors until she saw Curtis come out with Adam's sword in hand. Fear filled her eyes.

"W-what did you do to Adam?" She asked him.

"I defended myself from a lunatic and he left me little choice seeing as he was hellbent on killing me." Curtis responded. "Yet something about you tells me you are not so broken up over that."

Blake looked down in shame. "He was not always like this. He used to be a good guy, but he changed. I...was already planning on leaving him come this final mission together." She admitted.

Curtis nodded, as he listened to her explanation and then he moved over to the AK-130 who was holding her weapon and took it in his left hand before unsheathing Adam's blade with his right.  
"Well that's all well and good, but…" he stood in front of her. "That still leave me the question of what I do with you. You are clearly having a criminal background as show by your running with that nutcase, Adam." Blake looked down, ashamed. "But, you're not of the same mentality. You believe in the cause but not the methods used to achieve it. You fight for the people, not for the sake of revenge." Blake looked up at Curtis. He flipped both blades around and held the hilts out to her. "So, the way I see it, you have two choices." He waved Adam's blade around. "You can run away. Go back on the run to either the White Fang or strike it out on your own, see how far it takes you." He waves her own weapon in front of her. "Or…you can come with me. A term of…let's call it community service." Blake looked up at him confused. "The UNSC, for better or worse, is temporarily stuck here on Remnant until we get our flagship operational and can get back home to save our people. But while we are here, we will do everything in our power to help those who need it here. We were trained to guard Humanity, and despite a pair of cat ears or bull horns or whatever, Faunus seem pretty damn human to me. So, which do you choose?"

Blake looked up at the polarized visor of the ODST and pondered over his question. All her life, she has run from her problems, but now this…alien human, for lack of a better term, was giving her a chance to do something else. To not run away. A Minute passed. Then two. Finally, just before it hit three, she lifted up her right hand and took the blade of her own weapon.

Curtis depolarized his helmet and smiled at her. "Welcome to the UNSC, Blake" He then gestured to the waiting Pelican as the AK-130s loaded themselves onboard.

"So…what exactly IS the UNSC?" Blake asked as she followed him onto the drop ship.

Curtis began to tell her about the United Nations Space Command as the silver dropship took off into the skies and headed off for Home.

* * *

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	17. A Star To Steer By

**Chapter 13 Part 1**  
 **A Star to steer by**  
New harvest Suburbs, New Harvest, Sanus, December 20, 2553, 9:35 pm

[ _Blake POV_ ]  
Snow had begun to fall throughout the strange, alien city. I looked up as the sound of rumbling engines filled my ears and looked up to see a ship, a Heavy Corvette if what Curtis said is correct, take off into the sky. Its rose higher and higher until it was but a blue star shrinking to be among the other stars in the night sky. I kept walking, the sound of snow crunching under my boots being the only sound I could here as most were home or in the city. The hum of one of those 'Ghost' Hoverbikes could be heard nearby but it soon faded as I reached the place I called home in new Harvest. A nice home though one she didn't stay in alone as new Harvest was still being added onto all the time by what everyone called 'Constructor sentinels', which were small floating robots of some kind. How those things could make a house was beyond her but so was most of the stuff the UNSC had shown her.

I sighed as I fumbled in my pants pocket for my keys. "Things just seem to have gone off the rails ever since these troopers took me in. Maybe I shouldn't have come." I mumbled to myself as I found my house keys and proceeded to open the fount door. Instead of an empty hallway with a set of stairs that lea dot the next level however, I was greeting by the sight of my house mate leaning against the wall with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Hi Blake." Cinder said to me with a smirk. "Why the long face?"

I just sighed and entered the building as my cat ears were beginning to freeze off even with the new street heating system keeping the city warm. "Its nothing." I replied to the ONI agent.

"Nothing, huh?" Cinder said as she moved up next to me. "Maybe I shouldn't have come to the UNSC type mumbling doesn't sound like nothing."

I winced. "You heard that?"

"This is a normal house, not an ONI bunker." Cinder stated. "That door is not soundproof." She set down her cup and looked me in the eye. "What's wrong?" she asked with a genuine look of concern.

"Its just…being here. All of this. Aliens, spaceships, a whole hidden kingdom that doesn't need/use dust, Artificial Intelligences." I had a semi crazed look on my face.

Cinder however just took a sip of her drink. "Blake, come with me."

Confused, I followed her upstairs to the second-floor balcony. As we stepped out, we looked up as a large UNSC ship flew almost silently overhead, its main engines creating a low rumble as it couldn't go full power so close to the city. I gazed up at in wonder as it was the larger ship I had seen so far.

"Wow." Was all I could say as I watched what looked like a large blocky rifle make its way to the city's shipyard.

"The _Solace of Winter_ " Cinder stated. Of course, she would know which ship that was. "Halcyon class Light cruiser Refit."

"That's a _LIGHT_ cruiser!?" I asked in sheer disbelief. "What's a Heavy look like?"

"You will see next Month with the first Marathon class Heavy Cruiser is commissioned and in March, the first Valiant Super-Heavy Cruiser will take flight." Cinder stated like it was just a simple occurrence to her, seeing such massive vessels take to the skies and later the stars. She looked over at me. "Why do you feel you don't belong here? Is it the tech, the knowledge…or something else?"

"I don't know." I replied. "I just feel…like after everything I did for the White Fang…as basically an assassin. This feels like a second chance that I don't deserve at all."

Cinder just chuckled. "My dear Blake, if there is anyone who shouldn't' be given a second chance, its me." I looked at her confused. "Blake, I may not remember all of it, but I did some very horrible things for a mental bitch of a woman who's name I can't even recall thanks to some fancy tech that removed those memories I was subjected to. I have killed in her name and that is just of those I can remember. My hands are stained, and I will never even know the full extent of what I have done, and in a way…I don't want too." Cinder looked off at the city in the distance. "Remnant has not been good to me. My parents were lost to Grimm from when I was young and the wretch who used me as her killer raised me. I knew only how to be an efficient assassin. My last target was Amber, and we both know how that went." She rubbed her left leg as she unfortunately remembered her capture by the UNSC. "The point is, I have made peace with my demons and I am looking to build a better life for myself with these people. Once their flagship is up and running, I am leaving this planet."

"You're going to leave Remnant?" I asked, quite surprised.

"This planet had brought me nothing but pain." Cinder replied. "If it was not for the fact I don't want to risk the Covenant finding Remnant or Earth, I'd take my ship and leave for the Sol system as fast as it could take me there."

"Wait…You have a ship?" I have no idea why that was the first thing that popped into my head, but it just stuck out.

"I am a member of New Harvest's fledgling ONI Prowler Corps." Cinder stated with pride in her voice. She suddenly got a very big grin on her face. "Blake…. have you been star side yet?"

"W-what?" I was quite confused now.

Cinder pointed straight up. "Up there, in space. Have you been yet?"

"No." I told her. "I haven't even been on one of the ships yet."

"Welp." Cinder put down her cup and began to usher me back inside and down the stairs to the front door. "Time to fix that little oversight."

"Cinder what are you doing!?" I asked her sternly. "We can't just waltz up to the shipyards and take a ship!"

"You are right, we can't" Cinder said, not loosing her smirk "Unless we owned a ship in the yard, of which I do." She had ushered me out the front door and hand closed it behind up, pocketing the keys.

"Aren't Prowlers ONI's most valuable ships!?" I asked. "You can't just take one out for a joy ride!"

"Says who?" Cinder replied. "I can just list it as a simple test of her engines. A Quick lap around the moon and Planet isn't going to break it. If it was, I wouldn't be flying that ship, now would I?"

I sighed and conceded defeat. "Ok, you have talked me into it." Cinder smiled and lead me forth towards the New Asźod Shipyards.

[ _15 minutes later_ ]

New Asźod Shipyard North Entrance, New Harvest, December 20, 2553, 9:50pm

A Taxi had pulled up to the massive main gate of the shipyard as the guard at the main gate stopped it. He walked to the back window as Cinder rolled her window down.

"Name and Identification, Ma'am." The marine stated in a 'Its too damn late for this nonsense' tone of voice.

Cinder gave him her ID card. "Captain Cinder Fall, Office of Naval Intelligence, Section 3, Prowler Corps." Cinder stated to the shock of the marine as he saw her ID card and it showed she was telling the truth. "I am here for the UNSC _Aegis_."

"B-Bay 19, Ma'am!" he told her with a quick salute. As he opened the main gate and the cab drove in.

"The heck was that about?" Blake asked Cinder who just smirked.

"ONI has a lot of blood on its hands and a few scary stories circulating it, some are based on facts, but a lot of its is all made up." Cinder told her. "That guy probably heard one too many stories from an original UNSC member and got spooked when he heard what Section I am in."

"Is ONI really that bad?" Blake asked.

"The main branch back with the rest of the UNSC on Earth and whatever remaining colonies there are can be that bad at times." Cinder told her honestly. "But the ones here? They truly only want to help safe guard our lives."

"That's a relief." Blake said as she looked out the window and her eyes opened wide at what she was seeing. The Cab had reached Bay 19 and in sat a small but powerful looking ship. Granted, small in this case was over 922 ft long but it was small compared to other UNSC ships. It looked like a massive plane, with its long wings.

"That's the _Aegis_!?" Blake asked in shock at the ship as she had never seen a Prowler up-close before.

"UNSC _Aegis_ PRO-1787, Sahara Class Heavy prowler." Cinder said with pride in her voice. She smiled as she looked at the ship that was under her command for Covert Operations on Remnant and later, across the galactic theater once the UNSC _Hornet_ was repaired and the fleet would be sent off to defend Earth.

Cinder paid the Taxi driver and got out of the car. "You going to stare at it from inside this Taxi, or are you coming onboard?" Cinder asked the stunned Faunus.

Blake exited the cab and continued to stare at the predatory ONI stealth ship. Cinder couldn't help but laugh slightly at Blake's over fascination with the vessel, but then again, it was not too long ago that even she didn't believe in starships, hell it was earlier this very month!

Cinder just shook her head as she led Blake to the _Aegis_ 's boarding ramp. "Assassin to ONI Captain in under a Month." Cinder chuckled to herself. "Things are not the same anymore, that is for sure." Of course, Cinder knew why she was promoted faster than others. Her Aura and huntsman grade abilities were a boon to the UNSC as the organization was studying was to harness it and make an army of what Atlas would call Specialists out of its Army, Navy, Airforce and Marine Corps. With the advantages of being a Specialist in the hands of the average troop of the UNSC, they would be on an even footing with some of the hardier members of the Covenant, such as Brutes and Hunters. Such thoughts were pushed out of her mind as she felt the warmer air form the interior of her vessel wash over her as she directed Blake to the bridge.

Upon arriving at the main control center, Cinder and Blake were surprised to see they were not alone as Emerald and Mercury sat at their respective stations, going over some of the controls. Emerald even had a Large PADD with her that held the manual for the ships system that she was reading from.

"Late night study session, you two?" Cinder asked as her two subordinates nearly jumped form their seats.

"By the Gods, Cinder!" Emerald held her chest as she glared at her grinning C.O. "You nearly gave us a heart attack!"

"Then you should be more alert." Cinder responded as she walked up to the two of them. "What are you doing here so late anyways?"

Mercury shrugged. "We are just looking over some of the more…technical aspects of our new ship."

"Translation, you are unsure if you can fly it." Cinder stated with a deadpan look. "Didn't you both pass the simulations?"

"Yes, but being at the real controls is different." Mercury said.

"Mercury is afraid of flying a ship with Nukes in it." Emerald as Mercury Glared at her. "I am just practising my reaction times with the cloak."

"Well, I guess now is a good time as any to see what you two have learned." Cinder stated as the two looked at her. Cinder smiled and pulled Blake close for a hug. "Blake here hasn't been star side yet. I was hoping to take her up for a quick orbit."

"What? You were going to fly the _Aegis_ Yourself?" Mercury asked.

Cinder looked slightly offended. "I am fully qualified to do so."

" _Aegis_ can't be flown by one person, Cinder." Mercury told her with a straight face. "You be stuck here all night trying to get it airborne."

"Well, since they are here, can't they fly it?" Blake interjected into the conversation.

Cinder smiled. "Yes, yes they can."

"Wait, what?" Mercury asked, confused and slightly worried.

"What's wrong?" Emerald asked. "The ship only has its pulse lasers, no atomic weapons that you are so afraid are going to go off."

"Shut up." Mercury grumbled. "I am not worried."

"You pissed yourself when you saw the footage of the old Atomic Bombs Earth used in their Second World War." Emerald teased him.

"Those cities ceased to exist!" Mercury shot back. "It's a rational fear!"

Cinder just shook her head as Mercury made a fool of himself. "So, can you fly the _Aegis_ or not?" she asked.

"Ya, I can fly it." Mercury said. "My real station is the weapon control, but I can fly her."

"Dibs on Co-pilot." Emerald said as she moved to the Co-pilot's seat.

Cinder simply sat down in the captain seat and looked over the currently empty bridge of the starship - her starship – that would soon take her away form the world it was stationed on to parts unknown. But that was for another time. She saw Blake take a seat nearby as the ship began to hum. The Prowler's Orphios Energy Systems Jupiter-9 Fusion drive clusters came to life as fusion blue plasma flames roared form the ship's rear. The docking clamps disengaged and with the new repulsor technology and powerful thrusters, the UNSC _Aegis_ took to the skies.  
The heavy prowler pushed itself higher into Remnant's nighttime skies as Blake watched clouds go past as it accelerated very quickly, yet, she didn't feel it, the gravity plating and inertia dampeners, two advance science fiction like pieces of technology the UNSC had in its ships and fighters, removed the feeling of the High-G burn the craft was undertaking as it sored ever higher. Finally, the view from the windows seemed to clear as the craft made orbit. Mercury aligned the _Aegis_ for a standard orbit as Blake felt her breath escape form her as she saw the sight out the windows. The full breathtaking sight of Remnant form above. The precious blue green world looked so fragile form up here, it was almost hard to believe that she was standing on it just moments ago.

Blake walked up to the windows as the others tried not to laugh at her reactions. Mainly because they all had similar expressions during their first space flights and thus had no right to laugh.

"Its beautiful." Blake said as she looked out as the world curved off in the distance. She could see small dots of lights form below. Those dots being, Vale, New Harvest, Vacuo, Mistral, Menagerie, Atlas, and Mantle. They were so small yet most of the land below was dark, showing the areas that the Grimm had under their control. Blake looked up at the stars and saw another amazing sight. The _Retribution_ station that sat as the orbital station for New Harvest's orbital Elevator. Past it, she saw another ship, this one while further away and looking very small, Blake could tell it dwarfed the _Aegis_ by orders of magnitudes.

"What's that over there?" Blake asked, pointing at the mystery ship in the distance.

Emerald flipped through the ship's computers to bring up a name for the vessel that matched its transponder. "Let's see…" the computer beeps as the other vessel's transponder had been recognized. "Found it. It's the UNSC _Endurance_ BCG-171. Its an Artemis class battlecruiser."

"Ah, the flying sniper rifle of the UNSC." Cinder said with a bit of amusement. She knew of the ship. It was a pair of MACs that were just below the threshold of Super MACs, by the new Forerunner/Covenant enhanced MAC scale New Harvest used, strapped to some engines with some Ramparts and Archers as backup for anti fighter defence. "Looks like its testing out the new guns."

"What new guns?" Emerald asked.

"Defiance pulled up some files form old Forerunner archives he used to care take over until he was reassigned to Dawn." Cinder began to explain. "I still find it amusing that he copied so much military data once he found out Dawn was working with Darkness. Guy must have been a real creep. Anyways, during the Forerunner-Flood War, the Forerunner encountered a race of Sentient starships. Thay had no true name but were experimenting and harvesting all space faring organic life thanks to the use of these special massless corridors that set up around the Galaxy."

"Yikes." Mercury stated. "The hell didn't the Forerunner deal with them?"

Cinder continued. "The Flood what a bigger threat and the ships at the time, were reported as being only 2 km long, which is hopelessly tiny to a Forerunner ship and their gun, the magnetohydrodynamic cannon, hit with a force of 450 kilotons, something even a Covenant ship could shrug off."

"Ok, horrifying backstory aside, how does this explain the _Endurance_?" Blake asked.

"The magnetohydrodynamic cannon works just like an alternate MAC cannon so the UNSC has made its own." Cinder stated.

"Wait, really?" Emerald asked. "You just said a Covenant ship could tank a hit from that gun."

"Yes, I did." Cinder started. "But we have improved it. The original gun worked by suspending a stream of molten metal, mainly iron, uranium and tungsten, in an electromagnetic field and fired it out at half the speed of light. The problem what the stream was pencil thin, so the obvious solution, with the new charging coils, was to make it bigger."

"How much bigger?" Blake asked.

"The stream originally was about the diameter of about 15 cm." Cinder stated. "That stream equal a 450-kiloton beam of destruction from a stream the diameter of the shell used by Onager MACs. The stream we are using…is the same diameter of the shell used by Stalwart class Frigates and its moving at the same speed of half the speed of light. The damage estimates are in the 150 to 180 megaton range. However, the cannon has many drawbacks, such as amount of shots and it will only be mounted on Artemis class ships due to the range of the beam."

"Damn." Mercury whistled at the estimates. "That is one heck of a new gun."

Blake glanced back at the topic of discussion out the window. "This beam MAC…...is it bright blue-sliver?"

"I think so." Cinder replied. "Why?"

Blake simply pointed out the window as the _Aegis_ flew closer to the _Endurance_ they could see both of its Forerunner-Covenant enhanced MAC guns charging a bright blueish-silver glow. They were test firing the new cannons. As the _Aegis_ got into a good position, the battlecruiser filling their window, a large flash of light nearly blinded them as the new LMAC or Liquid Magnetic Accelerator Cannon unleashed its volley. The crew of the tiny prowler watched in awe as the beam flew out at mind boggling velocities out into the void at a target beyond their line of sight. The beam flowed with electromagnetic energy and the liquid metal it cradled within that created a dazzling and rather beautiful sight as the beam began to fade and the remnants of its scattered off into space, creating patterns what shone in the light of the sun hidden form view by the planet below. Blake looked down as their ship's orbit had taken them slightly over to the daytime side of Remnant and she could see the sun beginning to emerge form Remnant's shadow, its light slowly moving out to provide warmth for all who rested beneath it.  
"Amazing." Blake said almost breathlessly.

"Its is, isn't it?" Cinder said as she came up next to Blake to stood by on of the window on the bridge. "So, still thinking about leaving?"

Blake looked down at the planet below, then out toward the _Endurance_ which floated lazily in space as it began to turn around to leave now that its test was completed. "I got an offer to join ONI due to my skills but…" she stopped, looking down at her right hand as she remembered her time with Adam Taurus.

"But you no longer wish to be in the shadows." Cinder continued for her. "You don't want to be an assassin again."

"Ya." Blake affirmed. "What would it take for me to join the Navy?"

"The Navy?" Cinder was actually surprised. "You what to fly a Starship?"

"I want to see what's out there." Blake stated. "I wish to be on a ship, protecting those I care about as well as exploring this…vast untamed frontier."

"Battlecruisers are not vessels you could do that in, but a Destroyer or Frigate are used both as Exploration and recon ships." Emerald pointed out.

"Not to mention we only got bumped up in rank and given a Prowler so quickly is due to our skills in the area we are assigned to plus our aura." Mercury pointed out. "Not much use for an aura fighter on the bridge of a ship."

"Then I will try and obtain the position like any other solider." Blake stated with finality.

"You sure?" Cinder asked. "The UNSC doesn't make its training easy."

"The White Fang didn't make my life easy, but I dealt with it." Blake stated. "This could be a way…to try and earn my second chance."

Cinder placed a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder and smiled at her. "Then I guess I'll just have to let the Commander know in advance. Now, come on, its getting late and last I checked its only a few more days till the Earth holiday of Christmas and Remnant's own Winter solstice celebration."

"Changing course for New Harvest." Mercury stated as the Prowler turned around and set course for home, unaware of events taking place down below in the Kingdom of Vale and how it would affect them.

[ _3 hours later_ ]

Abandoned Warehouse, Downtown Vale, Sanus, December 21, 12:37 am

Early into the cold winter morning, a seemingly abandoned warehouse near the docks of Vale was alive with activity. Several White Fang members, led by Adam Taurus's former lieutenant, a walking pillar of muscle carrying a modified chainsaw know as Damian Thorn, were loading up crates full of Military grade dust stolen form Schnee Dust Company shipments form Atlas heading for Vale along with weapons procured from the black markets in Mistral and Vacuo. Overlooking the Faunus rebels was the one who sold them the crate in the first place. He was an odd one out due to the fact that he was human among an anti-human group, but such details matter not to Roman Torchwick. As long as he got paid, he would sell to just about anyone. The orange haired, bowler hat wearing master as counting up his payment as he discussed things over with Thorn.

"Well, I do believe I have given all that I promised." Roman proclaimed with a confident smirk. He was acting brave but knew if things got bad, he and his partner, Neo, would have no choice but to run due to the large number of White Fang operatives.

"18 full functional Bullheads, 30 crates of the M217 multipurpose heavy pistol, 28 crates of HK-768 Assault rifles, 17 crates of Atlas Security AK 657 Submachine Guns, and 50 crates of various powder and crystal dust." Thorn recited a she looked over the list and over at the stacks of crates Roman and Neo had smuggled into the Kingdom. He allowed a smirk of his own to work it way onto his face, even with it hidden by his custom mask. "Yes, you made good on your word, as I did as well." he placed a large armoured suitcase down on the table next to the two of them. "200,000 lien, as promised."

Roman looked over the plastic payment cards and smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you." He closed the case and tipped his hat to the faunus. "Come on Neo. Our work here is done."

Neo, his female partner in crime who was both mute and a bit on the short side, smiled from her perch atop a stack of crates and jumped down without care to the height. The miniature girl had skills that could rival many huntsmen and huntresses as Roman was a drop out of Haven academy and had trained her and helped her hone her skills. Roman could fight but he preferred to use his wit than to actually break out Melodic Cudgel, but she really couldn't complain. Roman helped her get cash, help keep food in her belly and a clean warm place to sleep at night. They were partners but, in a way, one could see it more as a Father-Daughter relationship.  
The two criminals were about to leave the warehouse, where the main gate suddenly opened. The cold winter air blew in as a man walked inside. The White Fang members all drew their weapons and took aim at the intruder who held up his hand in a mock manner and chuckled.

"Now, now everyone." He started in a tone of voice showing he was relaxed about his situation. "No need for violence. I am simply here with a message for your leader."

Thorn stepped forward. "I am the leader of the White Fang, and I don't know who you think YOU are _human_ , but you shouldn't have come here."

The stranger dropped his dark brown jacket and for around his belt, a scorpion singer made itself known. "As you can see, I am not human. I am one of you." He gave a wide, unnerving smile as his golden eyes seemed to twitch. The Man was clearly on edge and not right in the head. "My name is Tyrian Callows, and I am here on behalf of my Goddess who has a proposal for you all."

"We are not interested in whatever your boss, or goddess has to say." Thorn stated.

"Even if it guarantees you the destruction of Vale?" Tyrian asked with a smirk.

Thorn paused. "I am listening."  
Tyrian smiled in a manner that seemed like he need a mental asylum. "My goddess has been working on a way to soundly bring down Vale, but recently lost her infiltration agent who was needed to begin the final stage of the plan to the new human group you know as the UNSC."

"Those bastards killed Adam!" Thorn growled.

"And my mistress has a way of bringing them to these knees." Tyrian stated as Thorn and many other White Fang members listens close. "We all know their weapons and technology is advanced even more than Atlas, but my mistress also has such advance technology, in fact the same type used by the UNSC that they reverse engineered to make their weapons."

Roman decided to step in as this all sounded far fetched. He knew about the UNSC, even seen their ships up close. "Well as interesting as this all sounds, I do believe the age-old term of 'We need proof' still hold some weight here."

"I agree" Thorn said. He didn't like Roman, but he never gave him bad product or skimped out on a deal, so he trusted him, if only just.

Tyrian however, just smiled. "If it is proof you want, I can provide." The mad scorpion faunus reached into his jacket on the floor and pulled out what seemed to be several glowing shards. He then gripped a larger shard and then all the other shards began to assemble themselves into a glowing handgun like device. "This weapon is known as a Z-110 Directed Energy Pistol or Boltshot as our Dr. Watts called it. We retrieved it and its name and how it operated from a ship that my goddess commands. It no longer flies ad its technology is more than enough to bring down the UNSC and the kingdoms along with it." He tossed the alien pistol to Thorn who caught it with ease.

He examined the glowing parts as well as the few levitating parts. He took aim as an orange bolt of energy flew out and hit a old AK-130 head on a nearby table. The mech head promptly began to disintegrate into orange particles and disappear. Thorn smiled under his mask. "Ok Callows, we have a deal."

Tyrian smiled at Thorn, but before he could say anything, he noticed Roman and Neo leaving. "And where are you two going?" he asked, a slight edge in his voice

"We made our delivery, got paid and now we are leaving." Roman stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh no my dear Roman" Tyrian said with a creepy tone of voice. "I need you to continue you good work with these fine people."

"Arming people for a revolution is one thing, but destroying a kingdom is where I draw the line." Roman stated. "I want nothing to do with this."

Thorn stepped forward. "You finally backing out on me, Torchwick?" Neo moved into a defensive position in front of Roman

"Did we all just enter crazy town when I was not looking?" Roman asked. "You are asking me to help you destroy one of the few locations people don't have to worry about the Grimm showing up and ripping them apart in some pseudo war against the UNSC all because this lunatic gave you a fancy gun? Are you insane or just stupid, Damian!?"

Thorn growled at Torchwick's words "Choose you words carefully, **_HUMAN_**. I gave you leniency so far as you helped our cause, but now you are standing in the way of those goals." He aimed his new Boltshot at the master criminal. "And I will remove you if I need too."

Roman looked to the other White Fang members. "Faunus live in this kingdom too you know! Are you all going to let them die just for pay back against the UNSC, who we really know NOTHING about!?"

Several White Fang soldiers looked around and many lowered their guns as they thought about it.

"I got a family in Vale. I joined the White Fang to help them get a better life, not destroy our home and possibly kill them." One White Fang member, a young man, spoke up.

"Ya, this is just getting ridiculous!" a woman with rabbit ears spoke up. "I have a sister who was rescued, by the UNSC of all people, while we just terrorize human and faunus alike!" She took off her mask and threw it on the ground, revealing her dark brown eyes. "This is just going too far. I quit."

Thorn walked up to the girl "Say that again?" He threatened.

"I SAID I QU-" The woman yelled at him before she was cut off as Thorn grabbed her by the throat, cutting off her air. With a quick twist of his wrist her neck gave a sickening crack. He let her body slump to the ground, her neck broken.

"Anyone else wants to quit?" Thorn asked darkly. Several WF members raised their rifles at him, while the rest took aim at the deserters. Roman and Neo got into a battle-ready stance as the outset of a small civil war looked like it was ready to begin.

Tyrian just smiled. "Well, let's get this party started!" He raised his armed revealing two wrist blades on either arm that resembled a scorpion's claws. As he readied himself a WF Deserter tried to shoot him. The Manic Faunus just smiled.  
"Sorry!" Tyrian said as he quickly swung his tail around and rammed it up into the deserter's throat. The man, a young ram faunus, gagged and gasped for air as Tyrian violently ripped his tail out, taking the man's throat out with it. With a quick flick of his insectoid appendage the bloody trophy of his kill was thrown off without a care as his would-be attacker fell to the ground dead.  
"Not fast enough." The manic scorpion faunus looked down on his first kill of the day as all hell broke loose as this was all the other defectors needed to open fire.

The dust propelled .44 caliber boxy rifles of the White Fang lit up the warehouse floor as both sides exchanged fire. As the two side of the now divided White Fang began to exchange weapons fire, Tyrian laughed maniacally.

"This is going to be fun!" He exclaimed as he charged into the fight, his pincer wrist blades ready as he Charged a group of deserters hidden behind a weapon create with bloodlust in his eyes.

* * *

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	18. The Cold Reality

**Chapter 13 Part 2**

 **The Cold Reality**

White Fang Controlled Warehouse, Vale Industrial Sector, December 21, 2553, 1:43 am

Neo was not having a good day. After a long day of avoiding cops and hauling valuable cargo for human hating terrorists, just as she and Roman were about to be paid, some nutcase shows up and all hell breaks loose. Neo was currently hiding behind a crate with Roman and two defector White Fang soldiers, Perry and Jack, as the other two sides waged a small-scale war.

Roman looked at the group. "Can ANYONE please tell me, what the fuck has just happened?"

"The boss just went psycho, that's what happened!" Perry exclaimed as several shots from a VA-165 Assault rifle that the White Fang used whizzed over his head. "Son of a bitch! We have got to get out of here!"

"You want to cross that warzone to the exit? Be my guest" Jack stated as the sound of the alien pistol's rounds slamming into a crate nearby could be heard.

Roman got up. "Sooner or later, they are going to run out of defectors to shoot at. I rather die on my feet." He swung Melodic Cudgel around before looking down at Neo. "Ready to show me how far you have come?"

Neo smirked at him and readied her Umbrella. The two jumped out form their cover into the fray. The two criminals wasted no time engaging the now, psychopathic White Fang members. 5 soldiers on a cat walk opened fire on the dup as Neo used the aura enhanced ballistic weave of her Umbrella to block the shots with ease as Roman unloaded the powerful dust powered blasts of his cane at the connections of the walkway and sent it, and the 5 White Fang soldiers on it fell down into a large pile of fire dust crystals which ignited, setting the 5 soldiers aflame.

Before either could relax, more fire was directed at them as another group of troops charged with their rifles in sword mode. Neo and Roman both grinned as they knew they troops didn't have the skills to match a Huntsman or Huntress in training let alone to experienced fighters like themselves. Roman gave Neo a nod which she returned before the two set off. Three of the troops moved to engaged Neo and the other four moved to take on Roman. Two tried to go for Roman directly hoping to carve their blades past his aura and into him.

"I don't have time for this!" Roman shouted at them as his opened with the explosive dust blasts of Melodic Cudgel fired off, slamming into them, and cutting threw their auras. The blast didn't kill them, but they didn't seem to be getting up any time soon. The other two switched their weapons back into gun mode and unleashed full auto hell on Roman. The huntsman turned thief however was quick to respond and took cover behind a large crate, but not before a few rounds hit him, his aura absorbing the damage but weakening significantly.

"I am getting rusty." Roman remarked to himself. "My old combat teacher would kick my ass if he found out about this." He twirled his cane around before popping out of cover, the curved handle pointed toward the two Faunus gunmen. The handle fired off revealing itself to be a grapple hook which caught one of the White Fang troops off guard and hooked itself around his neck. Which a quick pull, Roman pulled the faunus straight down into the ground, knocking him out cold. The second one opened fire on the orange haired thief who dodged the round before pulling off an old trick. He fired a shot form the end of his cane at the WF member before swinging his cane around to catch it with the handle and then swung it at the faunus, the dust shot acting now like a blast wave, throwing the WF shooter away into a nearby wall.

Roman grinned to himself as he saw the faunus hit the wall then slide off it, no longer able to stand and fight. "Still got it."

With Neo, things were even easier. The three soldiers who surrounded her obviously knew nothing about her as they sadistically chuckled as they readied to attack the small girl. Neo smirked, they were so far in the dark she was surprised they could see.

They opened fire on her only for her to shatter when the round connected.

"The heck?" One of the White Fang Members blurted out. Before he could realize what happened, he was suddenly swept off his feet by a quick sweep to the legs by Neo's Umbrella before a swift kick sent him flying, the small girl just smiling at the other two White Fang.

"She a fucking illusionist!" Another of the remaining two White Fang members stated as they both opened fire on her. Neo however was prepared for such attacks as her Umbrella's aura enhanced ballistic weave blocked their bullets with ease as Neo seemed to dance towards them. With a smith she extended the blade within her umbrella and began her attack. The first soldier looked stunned as she sliced his rifle in half. He tried to attack her with her fists only to be blocked and countered with ease by his smaller opponent.

"You Gods damn midget!" he yelled at her "Just die already!"

Neo glared at him, not liking to be made fun of for her height disadvantage. Using he umbrella to give herself a slight boost, she jumped up high enough to deliver a powerful kick to the face of the offending faunus and send him straight into unconsciousness. The last White Fang fighter, the one who realized her semblance was all that remained between her and the exit to this hellhole.

"I am not letting you beat me so easily." He said, a stolen Atlas AK-170 Plasma Rifle held in his hand, a light blue glow emanating from its barrel. "Eat Plasma, bitch!"

The whirr and hum of the rifle was heard as bolts of superheated plasma launched form the rifle after Neo. Neo wasted no time in trying to _avoid_ the bolts the rifle output as such Atlesian weapons were purpose built to strip one's aura way and leave them vulnerable. She held up her umbrella as a shield as she ran for cover. The Plasma bolts flew true and splashed against her umbrella, parts of its fabric being burned away by the powerful plasma bolts. She finally got behind solid cover and looked at her umbrella. Many holes marked its surfaced and parts of the metal frame had been melted. She looked afraid at the weapons power but steeled herself as she had to take him out.

The White Fang member began to slowly approach the crate, when suddenly Neo jumped back out and bull charged him. He smirked at this. "Bad move, girlie!" He fired a three-round burst. The rounds hit Neo's chest dead center. Her Heterochromia eyes opened wide as she clutched her chest in pain. The Faunus gunner just laughed.

"What? You thought I was just going to stand there and take it?" He asked as Neo fell to her knees, dropping her umbrella. The gunner thought about taking the weapon as a trophy, its pristine appearance would look good in a trophy case. "Wait a second" His grin vanished as he stared at the umbrella. It was pristine. Untouched. Yet he distinctly remembered parts of it _melting_ not too long ago. From behind him, the sound of a blade unsheathing was heard. The What Fang gunner sighed. "Son of a bitch." Those where his last words as the silver steel blade of Neo's damaged but still functional umbrella pierced his heart from behind. Neo dispelled her body double and turned to Roman who gave her an approving nod. She smiled happily at this.

"Come on Neo, it's time to get out of he-" Roman was cut off as a sharp pain in his back and chest and a feeling of creeping cold penetrated his body. He looked at Neo, who looked horrified at something. His chest felt wet. He held a hand up to it and it came back red, soaked in his own blood. Looking down he saw why, as he had not heard Tyrian sneak up behind him and impale him with his scorpion stinger. The world felt cold as the life of Roman Torchwick slipped away.

Tyrian looked at the now dead Torchwick as he pulled his stinger out of him. "Poor Torchwick, if only you had joined us. Well, no skin off my bones!" He chuckled manically over the orange haired thief's demise. As he laughed, he heard a soft whimper and he grinned. He almost forgot about Torchwick's little helper. He looked up and saw her, on her knees crying. "Oh don't cry my dear" he said to Neo, readying his wrist blades "You will be joining Roman _VERY_ soon!"

He slashed at her only for Neo to 'shatter' before him. He scowled at this, a damn illusion. He turned around to see Neo holding Roman's cane in one arm along with her Umbrella as well as trying to carry Torchwick's body out of the Warehouse. Upon being seen both she and Torchwick's body disappeared in a flash, another one of her tricks no doubt.

Damion walked up to Tyrian. "My men and I will follow your goddess, but first things first...we can't have witnesses." The fully masked faunus told him. Tyrian smiled. "Smart move." Tyrian handed over a modified scroll to him. "Use this to contact my allies and receive orders from there. I am going hunting for Ice Cream." he grinned sadistically before putting back on his coat and chasing after Neo.

Damion just looked at the retreating form of the scorpion faunus. "What the fuck is _with_ that guy?"

[ _2 hours later, 3:23am_ ]

Neo tried to keep herself warm against the blistering cold to little success. She just knew she had to get Roman to a hospital. Get him to safety. She walked about two more steps before collapsing in the snow. She pulled herself out of it, weak and tired, her tears stinging her face due to the low temperature. She looked over at Roman, who was still and unmoving. She didn't want to believe it, but in her heart, she knew he was gone. He was all she had in this world and to lose him was-… Neo would have screamed in anguish if she could have, but her deformed vocal cords prevented that. She looked at Roman with sad sullen eyes. She took off his hat and placed it in his hands which to put together on his chest. She held onto Melodic Cudgel however as both something to remember him by, and the fact her own weapon was hanging on by a thread at this point. Neo picked herself up, giving one last look at Roman who was slowly being buried by the snow before starting to continue against the storm on her own. She trudged through the snow which in some areas was up to her stomach due to her short stature, shivering uncontrollably as she tried to force her way through the cold morning snow that seemed to be endless as far as she was concerned. The Warehouse had been near to the outer walls of Vale and so she has wondered out of the city hoping to lose the mad scorpion pursuing her, but this now left her lost and alone in the snow with her only port in the storm close by being the island settlement of Patch...only she had no clue where Patch was from her current location. She just had to keep moving. She had to.

[ _4 hours later, 7:37am_ ]

Neo couldn't feel anything except a numbing pain form the cold. The sun could be seen barely shining through the clouds and snow, but she felt no warmth from its light as the winds battered her small form and threatened to bury her under the snow. It might have been better to try and lose Tyrian in the city, but it was a gamble she knew she would lose easily with slight slip up and she was in no condition to take on the mad faunus alone. As she walked the snow seemed to get shallower as she found a main road that led to and from the southern Kingdom.

"Running somewhere, My little Ice cream treat?" A voice said behind her, that made her blood run colder than the snow around her. She looked behind her and there he stood. Tyrian, Roman's killer. "Did you really think it would be THAT easy to run from me!?" He mocked her as Neo held Roman's cane up, aiming it barrel at Tyrian. "You really think that will kill me? I have a full aura! You have nothing! Smart move running out in a blizzard!" He mockingly gave her a round of applause.

Neo looked like she was going to cry, but the stinging cold preventing that. She looked up at the sky, hoping for something to happen that would save her. All she got was the harsh howling wind. Tyrian laughed at her as he readied his stinger to impale her. That's when she heard it. It was distant and hidden by the howling wind, but she could faintly hear it. The growl of a car engine. The lights of a car, or maybe a truck's fog lights cut through the blizzard like snow. That's when she saw it. It was olive green and had large heavy tires and a flatbed at the back. On its side, Neo saw something that made her wonder if this jeep was here to save her or finish what Tyrian started. It read in white lettering "M12/LRV UNSC ARMY". It was a UNSC jeep, the ones they called Warthogs. It stopped as Neo was standing in the middle of the road, its bright central headlights shining down on her. The driver side door swung upward as a man stepped out of the car, wearing a heavy artic camo winter coat.

"Hey! Are you ok?" The man came up to her, his face semi covered by a scarf. Neo fell to her knees, a searing pain from her back as Tyrian had slashed her from behind with his wrist blades, cutting through her aura.

"She is MINE!" Tyrian yelled at the UNSC driver. "And no two-bit soldier is going to get between me and the mission my goddess has given me!"

Neo forced herself to look up, her hand finding the leg of the UNSC soldier and looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him for help. The soldier narrowed his eyes at Tyrian.

"You get your kicks out of attacking those who can't defend themselves?" The soldier asked, his voice carrying a dangerous edge.

"On occasion." Tyrian admitted. "I prefer to hunt my prey."

"I see." The soldier said as he pulled out something form his holster. It was silver and seamed unhelpful. That was, until he activated it. Suddenly the semi dark snowy landscape was lit up by a crimson glow as two blood red blades of plasma formed form what Neo now realised was the handle of a plasma sword. "Well then, if you want her... you have to get past me."

Tyrian shrugged. "Fine by me. That jeep and sword of yours would be useful to bring back anyways!" The mad faunus lunged at him, his wrist blades out and ready. The soldier blocked his attacks with his sword with ease, red lighting cracking off the blade every time as Tyrian's wrist blade impacted the crimson energy sword. The soldier didn't let up however, dodging, kicking and parrying with Tyrian but neither could get an upper hand as Tyrian's wild, unpredictable and rather insane and the soldier was more controlled, balanced and disciplined. The two traded blows until Tyrian pressing his blades down against the soldier's blade, as it trying to push through it, his aura enhanced blades pressing against the crimson plasma as his tail began to uncoil and ready to strike. Tyrian smirked as he knows the soldier was right where wanted. If he moved his sword, he could stab him with his wrist blades, if he didn't...well his tail and venom would end him. The soldier looked unfazed, maybe he had a backup plan but whatever it was, he would live to implement it, Tyrian would see to that.

"I win!" Tyrian said victoriously as his tail rose up to strike, the soldier's eye widening in surprise as he didn't know Tyrian was a faunus, let alone a scorpion faunus. Before Tyrian could even strike however, a loud bang was heard, Tyrian turned into to see an explosive dust shot slam into his face, blasting him back into the snow, slightly dazed. The soldier looked back to see...Neo, leaning against the front of the Warthog for support, her jacket red with her own blood, and Torchwick's cane in hand, its barrel smoking from the shot Neo had just fired.

Tyrian stood back up, still dazed. "You little bitch!" He yelled. "It will take more than that to kill m-" He was cut off by the hissing sound of plasma meeting flesh. Tyrian looked down to see the twin blades of the energy sword impaled in his chest, the soldier having _thrown_ it at him. Tyrian grabbed the handle, to try and pull it out and simply felt the feeling of both his life being drained and a touch of insanity as the bloodblade both sucked him dry of his own blood and released intoxicating chemicals into his nervous system to send him into a power high. The mad faunus just laughed maniacally before the blade finished its job and he fell over, dead.

The soldier walked up to Tyrian's body and retrieved his sword, which he then deactivated before coming back to Neo. The smaller girl was slumped against the front of his warthog looking extremely weak but relieved that Roman's killer had been put down. She looked up at the soldier who bent down to talk to her. He pulled down the scarf, showing a slight smile.

"Your safe now." He said in a genuine tone. Neo just smiled, as it was all she could manage. "Now" he said before gently picking up Neo, holding her bridal style before bringing her over to the Passenger side seat of the warthog. "Let's get you some proper medical help."

Neo simply leaned back in the warm seat of the jeep, the warmth from the car's heating system already making her feel a million times better. The soldier got in the jeep and began to drive them off as Neo simply laid back to get some rest after her ordeal, knowing she was now in safe hands.

* * *

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	19. Raise a Little Hell

**Chapter 14**

 **Raise a little Hell**

Halberd class Destroyer UNSC _Midsummer's Night_ , Colonial-Cylon Armistice line, June 17, 2554

Blake sat in the command chair of her first starship after months of simulations and training. She was a good commander, but even new commander where not given destroyers right away, yet here she sat...because of a bet. She looked out ahead of her. Her ship, the _Midsummer's Night_ sat near an armistice line between the UNSC's Cylon allies and a group of humans known as the 12 Colonies of Kobol. A Station built as a neutral meeting ground between the two space faring nations sat on the border and two ships, Advanced Cylon Argos class Basestars she was told sat parked before her ship and the station. This whole thing started a few days ago when one of the Cylon delegates, a Six model, stopped by New Harvest. The Cylon and UNSC had been working closely together on a project to make an artificial humanoid body AIs could use to...well be human. Blake already thought the flesh and bone body the human cylon had where impressive, if slightly unnerving due to the fact she couldn't even tell she was a cylon until she was told. But the cylons, being machine in nature, where not comfortable with a pure human body, and wanted to blend their old robotic selves with their humanoid selves or as another cylon model, a One model who was known as Cavil put it, to see x-rays, to view the invisible spectrum of light once more with sensors beyond what biology can give.

Blake shook her head as it seemed very strange to her, but in the end, the android project was a success with Curtis AI friend Solara getting the first finished model, as she helped build it. She didn't know everything it could do, all she know is that it was hard to tell she wasn't human...and she could do human things like eat, as evident by her disappearing off to Vale in search of a restaurant. It was however the creation of the android that lead to her sitting here, two basestars now aiming at her as one Six, now in a new android body made the comment that their basestars were more than a match for a UNSC ship. Curtis, who had overheard this said that a single UNSC destroyer with a rookie crew could take on two Basestars with ease. After a bit of a debate they both decided to put their money where their mouths where. Blake looked behind her in the CIC where Curtis, and the Cylon Six, who called herself Caprica, after one of the Colonial worlds sat. Curtis wore a standard UNSC dress uniform while Caprica wore what Blake now knew was a modified version of the Colonial dress uniform as the Cylons were in the process of making a more structured military as one agreement with the UNSC that they had to unshackle all their full metal centurions and raider so they too could live human lives. The Cylon council argued for over a month but they finally agreed to it.

"Not that it makes my life any easier right now." Blake commented to herself as she watched the basestars sit motionlessly in space, as if daring her to strike first. She sighed and prepared herself for the Wargame scenarios she was now in, with the UNSC Navy's reputation on the line.

"Reactor output to 90 percent!" Blake began to issue orders. "Raise shields and ready Ramparts defense guns and Archer missiles! Take us into range"

The crew set to work as the Bridge of the Destroyer came to life with a flurry of activity. Outside the ship, a slight golden shimmer could be seen before fading away, showing the _Midsummer_ 's shields where now up and the 50mm point defense guns came to life as the destroyer moved in on the basestars. The two cylon ships where less of front-line battleships and more strategic missile platforms as such, they began to slowly move to intercept the UNSC ship with the aid of its gravity drives. One thing the basestar had that few UNSC ships short of a carrier had however... were fighters. The massive 2402-meter-long ships launched massive swarms of raider class fighters, he few that had yet been given a human body and be replaced by a manned starfighters. The powerful engines of the hundreds of launched fighters sent them towards the _Midsummer's Night_...right where Blake wanted them.

[Battlestar _Pegasus_ , Colonial side of the Armistice line]

Having a pair of cylon warships jump so close to the redline sent the station sensors into overdrive as its computers called out for the nearest Colonial ships. 4 ships immediately jumped in, all of them Battlestars. The Jupiter class Battlestar _Galactica_ , the Mercury class Battlestar _Pegasus_ and two Valkyrie class battlestars, the _Valkyrie_ and _Atlantis_. What the colonials saw both shocked and confused them. An angular ship of unknown origin was facing off two basestars that where much bigger than itself. At first the two sides seem to just stare one another down, before the smaller ship began to charge the two basestars in what the Colonials could only imagine was a suicide charge. They soon found out differently. The ship opened up with two twin-linked turrets on its prow, the shots flying out in rapid bursts that slammed into the basestar at high speeds, causing damage along the inside of the inverted Y-hulls of the Basestars. From the CIC of the _Pegasus_ Rear Admiral Helena Cain watched as the Cylons returned fire on the lone ship with their advanced long-range anti-ship missiles, only for them to hit some sort of glowing golden barrier, a shield the protected the whole ship.

"Gods protect that brave vessel and her crew" Cain heard one of her crew pray for the unknown ship as it continued to hammer away at the basestars with its guns before turning them onto the raiders and sending its own complement of anti-ship missiles at the basestar to its port side, a pure unending stream of missiles erupting form 26 different hatches on the ship's surface. The two basestars did a tactical jump to an advantageous position behind the unknown ship which did the only thing it could, it began to loop around to engage them, crossing the red line into Colonial space where they could get a good look at it even as it sped by at speed a ship of its size **shouldn't** be capable of.

Cain was snapped out of her thoughts went she got a report form a Raptor from _Atlantis_ that was close enough to see the writing on the side of the ship. There, in plain Caprican, where the words 'UNSC _Midsummer's Night_ DD-237'.

Cain looked at the image of the ship that was sent to her ship's computers. "UNSC? The heck does that mean?" She asked to no one in particular.

"It's probably an acronym for their full title." Her XO explained.

Cain gave him an annoyed look. "I know that, I meant do you have any guesses as to what it spells out?"

The XO looked at it for a minute or two. "The UN, if I had to hazard a guess, and if they speak the same language... would spell out 'United Nations', like the old UN council of both Scorpio and Caprica."

Cain thought about this and felt it was a reasonable guess, but it still gave her very little. "We do still have the second Stealthstar prototype in the starboard flight pod, don't we?" She asked as she watched the battle rage on, angry that she couldn't aid the unknown ship due to the battle being on the Cylon side of the border.

Her XO looked confused. "Yes, we do."

"Find me the best damn pilot in this fleet and get them over here now!" Cain ordered. "We need to find out more. And that stealthstar would be able to get VERY close to this fight."

The XO nodded and immediately set about finding a pilot qualified for the Stealth ship to explore this battle.

[UNSC _Midsummer's Night_ , Cylon side of the Armistice line]

Blake and her crew where doing better than expected in Curtis's eye. She wisely moved in close to help throw off the targeting of their missiles and had her PDCs target the fighters while the archers targeted the missile launches and fighter launch bays.

"I am impressed by the fact this is all simulated." Caprica commented to him as she watched two more raider get 'shot down', when in fact, they had not really been hit at all.

Curtis nodded as he thought about the holographic technology installed on the ships for this test. Their weapons were unloaded and special holograms, like the one's troops use to confuse Covenant troops were installed. While some holographic weapons could cause some slight scorching to one skin, as if you had just touched a hot pot, no actual weaponized holograms where installed. The guns fired holographic bolts that went they hit, cause sensors on the ship to 'create' the damage the actual shot would have inflicted. It looked like both ships where attacking each other, when in fact, neither ships was even scratched form this engagement.

As he thought of this, he looked to the center Holo-table that had a projection of the battlefield. He specifically watched the 4 colonial ships on the other side of the line.

"By the way, is there any particular reason why we are showing off to the Colonies?" He asked, wondering why they came this close to colonial territory.

Caprica smiled "Just to remind them that we are out here, as well as help you out." Curtis looked at her confused at that statement. "They hate us Cylons"

"I know that" Curtis told her,

"Then you should know that if they see a UNSC ship fighting Cylons..." She left it for him to pick up.

"They would be more open as they would see us as allies against their mortal enemy." Curtis finished for her. "That however leaves us a problem of what if they find out it's a lie. I built this UNSC garrison and fleet on a basis of not using lies to gain power or allies. I don't wish to turn my back on that now."

Caprica shrugged. "Well, it at least will show them not to mess with your ships at least." She said as the deck shuttered form a large salvo of holographic Cylon Aspect seeking anti-ship missiles slamming into the starboard stern shields, dropping them by 20%. Something that was insignificant due to the recharge rate of the golden energy barrier. Caprica frowned as she saw how inferior her own people's weapons were against the shielded ship and began to imagine what if the Covenant found them. It sent a shudder down her new Titanium-Kevlar spine.

For Blake, the battle was not as easy as they made it out to be, as the raiders made her life hell due to the fact, they carried anti-ship missiles and came in massive swarms. The Remnant UNSC had upgraded the Halberd point defense grid with many more guns, some that came from retractable hatches along the side and in the flanks of the ship, protected by the thick armor of the UNSC Destroyer, but the 485-meter-long ship was doing not enough damage with them along compared to the massive Cylon ships before her.

"This dance has gone on long enough." Blake said with finality. "Minos, report."

The holotank next to her command chair lit up as the dumb AI Minos appeared on it. He took the form of 18 Century British Rifleman without the hat however and he glowed a pale green.

"How may I help you today, Commander Belladonna?" He asked in a monotone posh accent.

Blake looked at the two basestars, her eyes narrowing. She knew this was a war game, but she wasn't about to lose. "Bring us about toward the starboard Basestar...and arm the MAC."

[Stealthstar _Charon_ , Cylon side of the Armistice line]

As Minos complied with his orders and the Destroyer began to fire its maneuvering thrusters to target the Basestar, a Colonial stealth ship had crossed the line, its Dradis absorbing hull coating and baffled engines helped it cross the line to approach the fight undetected. Piloting the Stealth space superiority recon fighter was Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from the Battlestar _Galactica_ who was wishing she was back on _Galactica_ as she approached the battle.

"This is fraking nuts." Starbuck said to herself, although the other Battlestars could hear her as she maintained a radio connection to them as well as transmitted video of the battle. "The one little ship isn't even damaged, yet but those basestars are getting hammered!"

"Lt Thrace" The voice of Read Admiral Cain came over her wireless. "This is Pegasus actual, can you get any closer to the Unknown ship?"

"Roger that Pegasus actual, attempting to close the gap." Starbuck replied as she gave her ship a bit more thrust to get closer. As she began to approach the bow of the _Midsummer's Night_ her equipment began to go crazy as a bright yellow glow began to grow form the very front of the ship. What the Colonial Viper Pilot didn't know was the even though the rounds were fake... the MAC was still actually charged up to simulate a real firing. The charging process took 30 seconds for a full powered charged shot as opposed to the minutes it took for the same thing during the early years of the Human-Covenant war.

"What the frak is it doing?" Starbuck asked, hoping for an answer form one of the Battlestar commander but instead got it from the _Midsummer's Night_ as with a large flash, the smaller 647 cm coilgun of the Twin-linked 14B11R2 MAC Battery fired its deadly projectile at 4025 km/s or 1.3% the speed of light thanks to it Forerunner upgrades and slamming into the upper Y of the starboard basestar, taking it out of action. Starbuck watched in pure shock at what the ship had just done. The Basestar jumped away, showing her that its Hyperlight drive still worked, but it was just so the Colonials don't try and 'salvage' the ships, only to find them intact and battle ready. As she watched the battle unfold, her dradis system picked up a pair of raiders heading her way.

"Frak!"Starbuck cursed. She had 2 20mm autocannons on the Stealthstar, but firing them would let both the Cylon AND the UNSC ships know she was there. She had to move fast. Using her RCS thrusters to get in close to the _Midsummer's Night_ 's hull to the point she nearly hit it, she kept the _Charon_ flat against it hull, moving up along the heavy Titanium-A3 battle plate until she got to it top and quickly maneuvered down into the dorsal hull of the bow of the ship. She powered off the engines as to not alert the ship, which she had now docked herself upon that her ship now sat on the hull a few meters behind the MAC Guns.

"Starbuck to Pegasus actual, I am in deep shit here." Starbuck said over the wireless, a bit of fear evident in her voice as her craft shook as the MAC gun, this time the much larger 1170cm coilgun fired into the central hull of the last basestar, obliterating it and causing a jump drive failure, sending the wreck into an uncontrollable jump never to be seen again. "I need an escape plan."

"Roger that Starbuck." Cain replayed back. "We are working on a way to-" She was cut off as the Radiation alarm on the _Charon_ went wild.

"Radiological alarm!" Starbuck could hear the _Pegasus_ XO yell over the wireless.

"Did that ship just arm a nuke!?" Cain asked.

"No" Starbuck replied as a swirling blueish-purple vortex appeared before the ship she was attached to. "THIS FRAKER IS ABOUT TO JUMP!" She yelled in fear knowing that even with her own jump drive, this ship could take her anywhere and she may never see the Colonies again.

[Battlestar _Galactica_ , Colonial side of the Armistice line]

Another voice came over the wireless, this time it was Commander Adama of the _Galactica_. "Kara! Get out of there!" He yelled at her, but it was far too late. The powerful fusion engines of the UNSC Destroyer pushed it forward and into the slipspace rupture and with Starbuck parked so close to the bow, she was sucked in almost instantly.

Back on the _Galactica_ , Adama had to resist an urge to order his ship to charge across the redline and stop that ship, but it was pointless. The unknown ship was not only faster than his 40-year-old battlestar, but its FTL process took only a few seconds as it pushed itself inside, the vortex closing right behind it. Starbuck was gone.

"Why." Adama asked to no one in particular. "Why must we send people over in those death traps stealth ships to their deaths!"

He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder as his friend and XO, Saul, looked at him. "She isn't dead." He told him looking the Commander dead I the eyes. "That damn ship doesn't even know she is onboard. She will find a way back. That crazy ass Starbuck always does."

Adama knew it was true, but it didn't make it any better. "She is lost in space with little chance of even knowing where we are from where that ship exits that vortex, let alone returning to us in a ship no bigger than a Raptor."

"She's proven you wrong before." Saul said with a slight smirk.

Adama allowed himself a small smile as he remembered the many time Starbuck had done just that, feeling a small glimmer of hope. "Ya...she has. But I am worried. That ship wasn't even half _Galactica_ 's size yet it could tank everything those basestars had and it ripped them apart. What kind of enemy must those people have fought to make such a ship? Not to mention we don't even know if they are human or cylon."

Saul said nothing as he looked at a monitor with a frozen image of the ship firing it massive main gun at a Basestar, a feeling of dread filling him.

[ UNSC _Midsummer's Night_ , Remnant System, half an hour later]

The fabric of space and time seemed to fly past the windows as the blast shutters had closed, to add extra radiation protection as Blake sat back in her command seat. Curtis came up to her with a big smile.

"You did great back there." He told her genuinely.

Blake blushed "Thank you, Cur- I mean sir." She saluted. Curtis chuckled a bit.

"At ease Blake." Curtis told her. "Just you and me talking as friends. Save the rank and file stuff for an actual combat scenario or if we reunited with the UNSC back at earth."

Blake sighed "Ok Curtis. So, what happens now?"

Curtis grinned. "Well I can definitely say you passed the test and have showed great skill as a UNSC ship captain. As well as the fact the simulations and tests we have been giving everyone are harder than what normal UNSC soldiers and sailors go through, but we are trying to pack as much in on a limited time scale." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have done very well on your first command, even if it was a war game exercise."

"It is very nice to command your own spaceship, even if it takes some getting used to." Blake admitted.

"Well you better get used to it." Curtis told her. "This ship isn't going to command itself."

Blake blinked. "W-wait... are you saying-?" she asked before he cut her off.

"The _Midsummer's Night_ is yours" He told Blake, to her surprise. "You have trained hard and you earned it."

"Thank you, Curtis." She stood up from her chair and saluted him with a smile.

"Exiting slipstream space now, Commander." The Navigation officer said as the ship shuddered slightly as it re-entered real space. The Blast windows re-opened and the breathtaking view of Remnant form above filled the bridge.

Caprica came up to both Curtis and Blake." It never gets old, does it?"

"Nope" Curtis told her.

Blake looked out at the view when something caught her eye. It was only slightly noticeable, but something sparkled in the sunlight near the bridge before passing by as her ship moved towards the planet.

Curtis noticed her absent look. "Blake?" He snapped her out of it. "You ok?"

"Ya, I'm fine." Blake assured him. "I just thought I saw something."

[Colonial Stealthstar _Charon_ , Remnant orbit]

The something Blake saw was the light reflecting of the _Charon_ 's cockpit as it drifted powerless in space, moving due to momentum from being on the hull of the Destroyer as it exited slipspace and powerless as it was built for the near instant jumps through subspace of its Hyperlight Drive, not the radiation filled 7 intertwining dimensional tunnel of Slipspace. While the ship was shielded from radiation both by its own hull and the _Midsummer_ 's shield, the stress of entering and exiting slipspace had knocked out its electronics and left her ship to detach form the hull of the UNSC ship and drift away from it.

Inside the stealth recon fighter, Starbuck desperately tried to restart the ship as she was now drifting very quickly towards the planet below, and if she couldn't get control, she'd burn up upon re-entry.

"Come on you fraker!" Starbuck yelled as she desperately tried to restart the engines. With no results, she slammed her fist down on top of the console. The Hum of the 3 baffled engines coming to life was heard shortly after.

The viper pilot smirked. "Who says violence doesn't solve anything?" She leveled the craft as she came into the atmosphere, aiming for the Eastern most continent. "I hope they are friendly down here." She said to herself as she crafts began to head towards the surface.

[UNSC Army 1st Calvary squadron, Anima airspace. ]

Staff Sergeant Hudson leaned back in his seat within the troop compartment of the UH-144S Falcon Troop transport VTOL next to Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Kilgore of the Army's 1st Cavalry airborne squadron as they flew over the forested land of the continent of Anima below, their Falcon just one of 5 along with 7 AV-22 Sparrowhawks and 2 AC-220 Vultures and 5 D77-TC Pelicans carrying 3 gauss hogs and one M808B Scorpion tank and one M850 Grizzly Tank paired with 4 UNSC Airforce B-65 Shortsword bombers and 2 C709 Longsword Interceptor fighters.

Hudson took a long look at the passing forest below. "Remind me, why are we out here?"

"On patrol" Kilgore stated bluntly as if it was obvious, taking a drag form a cigar he was smoking.

"A patrol doesn't carry enough armament to overwhelm a Covenant stronghold." Hudson replied. "So why does the 1st Cavalry always go fully strapped for a skirmish?"

Kilgore sighed, exhaling smoke as he turned to the airborne trooper turned ODST. "Because too many times have my men been caught off guard in some ambush and wound up dead or wounded. Never again."

"Damn." Hudson said. "But what are you going to encounter on Remnant that needs **this** much firepower?"

Kilgore leaned back and took a deep drag of his cigar. "This place...Anima...I got a funny feeling about it. Like something is hiding here."

"Like some unknown grimm type?" Hudson asked.

"No, but I wouldn't write those things off just yet." Kilgore explained "They are extremely unnerving. No, there is something worse out there."

Suddenly Kilgore's radio came to life with chatter form one of the Longswords.

"Sir, we are picking up an unidentified fighter craft coming in from high altitude." The Longsword pilot informed the Lieutenant Colonel. "Craft appears human in make and is seemingly damaged if its sluggish movements are any indicator. Unable to get better scans as the craft has a stealth coating like a prowler, sir."

"Intercept the craft and bring it into formation" Kilgore replied. "If it can't run then several turrets aimed at it should keep them put until we get back to the carrier."

The Two Longswords broke off and headed towards the Stealth fighter who's pilot once again found herself in a world of trouble.

Kilgore and Hudson watched as the fighter was brought into their formation by the much larger Longswords and it flew alongside their Falcon where the left side gunner kept his M247H Heavy machine gun trained on the cockpit.

Hudson held a hand up to his helmet and turned on his radio. "Pilot, identify yourself." he ordered the unknown fighter that appeared to be of the new Humanoid Cylon design.

"Lt Kara Thrace, callsign Starbuck, Colonial Navy" Starbuck replied.

"Colonial Navy?" Hudson asked. "We are not scheduled to receive any new pilots today, let alone with some stealth ship." He didn't know how this confused Starbuck. Other Colonial ships and personnel where on this planet?

"Hey, I didn't ask to be here!" Starbuck defended herself, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind for now. "I got carried along by one of your ships."

Kilgore laughed. "You flew that thing through slipspace?!" He asked. "You should buy a lottery ticket with THAT luck!"

"My Hyperlight drive malfunctioned so I attached to the ship that carried me...even though it was in the middle of a battle with those fraking huge forward cannons." Starbuck informed him.

"Ah, the mighty MAC gun." Kilgore said with a smile on his face. "The one thing that makes me wish I had joined the Navy instead of the Army."

"Like they would let your crazy ass man a MAC, Colonel" A Pilot form one of the Shortswords chimed in.

"Just like how they wouldn't let you fly a Fighter, huh?" Kilgore shot back. The local UNSC battle net was alive with the sound of laughter as the Shortsword pilot tried and failed to come up with a comeback.

Hudson got his laughter under control before re-addressing Starbuck. "Well, seeing as you are now stuck here with us, you may as well stick around till we can get you back to one of your...what are they called Basestars?"

"Basestars are what they USED to use back when they were all robots." The pilot of Hudson's Falcon chime in over the radio. "They hired Mantle to make what they called Battlestars, these big ass Battleship-Carriers like their old human creators used."

"They are sturdy designs that Earth would have used if we brought World War II into space, but we didn't" Kilgore commented. "They have a charm about them though, kind of like space faring ocean vessels"

"Only old cartoons and anime have that sort of thing" Hudson told the army Colonel. "Anyways, Starbuck? You a good pilot or what?"

Starbuck didn't respond as she was frozen with mixed emotions. From the mention of Earth, she knew who these people were, Kobol's lost colony, the 13th tribe. While that news was great, they had found and allied themselves with the Cylons who were making Colonial Battlestars! Even worse is the fact her fighter was damaged and was cutting edge stealth tech the Cylons would gain if she landed on one of their ships! She was lost and surrounded by enemies, and the problems kept piling on.

"Remnant to Starbuck, come in Starbuck" Hudson called to the Viper Pilot. "Your receiving me Lieutenant?"

The Colonial pilot snapped out of it. "Ya, I hear you." She replied, trying to calm herself. "Wireless just died for a second." She couldn't tell them she was a true colonial from the Colonies, or else she would be screwed.

"Well then, I'll ask again." Hudson replied. "You any good behind the stick, or are you just some rookie with a banged-up ship?"

"Hey!" Starbuck suddenly forgot about her situation for a moment. "I am the best damn Viper Pilot on the Battlestar Galactica!" She suddenly clamped her mouth shut, knowing she might as well have just openly said she was a human form the colonies.

"Galactica, Huh?" Hudson asked. "Like your tub could take on one of our Frigates, let alone match our carriers."

Starbuck sighed, he didn't know actual Colonial ships names, and why would he? He was Army, not Navy. "My ship would definitely surprise you."

Kilgore interrupted. "Well your surprises can start now, we are receiving a transmission form a nearby village under attack."

"White Fang or Grimm?" Hudson asked, readying his weapons, a M739 SAW LMG in his hands and a M41 SPNKR rocket launcher on his back.

"Neither." Kilgore replied. "Sounds like a local bandit raiding party, but they are packing some heavy firepower as the local huntsman can't hold them back."

"Well that settles it." Hudson said finality. "Send the Coordinates to the pilots and get the troops ready."

Kilgore nodded with a grin. "About damn time we get to do something!" He said while turning to Starbuck's fighter. "Time to put your money where your mouth is, Starbuck!"

The squadron began to turn and increased its speed as Hudson broadcasted a return message to the village. "Hang tight, help is on the way" was the message sent out as the 1st airborne Calvary rushed to the village's aid.

[Shion Village, Northern Anima, 30 minutes later ]

Many on Animus chose to live their lives outside of the kingdom of Mistral, hoping to carve out their own future free of its influence. Many of them know of the dangers of the Grimm and of bandits but they prepared themselves for that eventuality, Shion was no exception. But there was one group of bandits that Shion couldn't be prepared for. They had extorted the village before, and they had hoped the bandit tribe would leave them be. They were wrong as the many buildings, stores and homes of Shion began to burn as the infamous Branwen Tribe descended upon their humble home.

Raven Branwen herself watched as her tribe raided Shion for supplies and valuables. The grimm would probably set in soon with the amount of destruction they were causing making her want to hurry up.

"Vernal" Raven turned to her trusted second in command. "How far are we along?"

The younger girl looked up at Raven before turning back to the destruction before them. "Mostly finished. The Village center is holding out however. It they hold out for too long, they may call for help."

Raven sighed behind her custom grimm mask, a slight light of fire emanating from the eye slits. "Tell them to hurry up." Raven ordered. "I rather not have to deal with Grimm hordes and Mistral police if I can avoid it."

Vernal nodded and was about to set off when she heard something.

"What is it?" Raven asked her.

"Engines." Vernal responded, looking confused. "They...are not any I have heard before. Not Bullhead, or Mistral airships or Atlas Lancer Gunships."

"Then who-" Raven asked before stopping as she heard the engines herself. She on the other hand _had_ heard these engines before. The whine of hybrid fusion drives and rotors.

"No." Raven looked both angry and worried. "They can't be here! They operate in Sanus!"

"Who?" Vernal asked her leader.

"It's them!" Raven said with finality. "It's the UNSC!" Vernal's eyes opened wide at the news the technologically advanced Military of the rumored Hidden Kingdom of Remnant was now heading here. "Warn our brothers and sisters!" Raven ordered her. Vernal nodded and headed out to warn the others.

[ UNSC Army 1st Calvary Squadron, Northern Anima, Shion Village]

Kilgore looked out at the village ahead with a Spotting scope and saw the fire and in the center, by the tallest building he could see the villagers trying to defend their home.

"All right, we got civvies I the center and more than likely, bad guys all around." Killgore relayed over his radio. "Check you targets before firing, we don't want to hit innocents here." He suddenly got a smirk on his face. "Noisemaker, you reading me?"

A female pilot form one of the Pelicans responded. "Sir, yes sir. Got a request?"

"Play us something old but good." Kilgore replied.

"I got a few selections in mind." Noisemaker responded. Unlike the other D77s, her pelican was set up for PsyOps missions, and thus had a pair of powerful speakers on the hardpoint of its wings and in the Troop compartment. Her personal micro AI helped her sort through the massive selection of music she had until she picked the one she liked.

"Ok then, let's do this like it was the 20th century!" She responded before music began to blare form her speakers as the squadron entered the village.

Down below on the ground, Raven looked up at the Large aerial squadron of UNSC ships when what seemed to be music reached her ears.

" _Raise a little hell, raise a little hell, raise a little hell_ ~"

The wind from the rotors of the Falcons washed over the flames and over Raven and the rest of her tribe who looked up at the source of the music.

" _Raise a little hell, raise a little hell, raise a little hell_ ~"

As the Vietnam era music kicked into full swing, hell broke loose. Auto cannons and machine guns began to unload from the skies as every Army aircraft unloaded on the bandits. 20mms from the Sparrowhawk escorts and Falcons which now acted like old attack helicopters, and 70mm from the Pelicans which began to land to unload troops and their vehicles. First on the ground was the Grizzly which turned around, its twin-linked 120mm cannons itching for a fight as the heavy tanks bore down on a group of helpless bandits. One of the bandits, a blonde hair guy with a revolver and a knife strapped to the bottom grip of said revolver jumped on the tank and tried to open the hatch.

"Come on you son of a-" He grunted and complained until he heard a click. He smirked at the as the hatch opened...and a M90 shotgun aimed at his face. "Now that's not fair at all."

The tanks driver, a Sedran native just smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't give a fuck!" He fired an 8-gauge shell right into the bandit's chest, ripping away his aura and ripping a large hole in his chest before he closed his hatch back and turned the heavy guns toward his comrades who were trying in vain to shoot his tank's heavy treads.

The driver just smirked. The twin M247T machines guns opened up on the group. 3 were cut down by the stream of .50 cal bullets while the other 4 managed to escape, only to be pursued by the Grizzly which chased down its prey.

Raven looked on as the second Pelican landed and dropped off the Scorpion tanks which turned towards her. The red eyed bandit huntress glared at the tank. "If you think your fancy toy will stop me, you are dead wrong." She said to herself as heavy clouds began to roll in above the village. A powerful lightning bolt shot down form the clouds and struck the tank. Its engine died and the tank seemed dead. Raven smirked victoriously, before noticing that the tank wasn't damaged, just disabled. She approached it slowly, only for its lights to come back on, its engine roaring back to life. Raven quickly got out of the line of sight of its gun as the driver regained his bearings and went hunting for her.

"They are tougher than they look." Raven said to herself. "But the lightning bolt only disabled it? The hell do these things get shot at by for them to resist that much power?!"

"Plasma mostly." a voice replied behind her.

Raven turned around, to see a girl with shoulder length straight brown hair, wielding a staff and had a UNSC pistol on a waist holster. "So, you are just like me."

"The hell are you talking about?" Raven asked.

"You're a maiden." The girl told her. Raven's eyes opened wide. "Which are you? Summer? Winter?"

"Spring." Raven replied, crossing her arms. "And you?"

"Fall maiden." Amber smiled at her. "Name's Amber, Mrs. Branwen."

Raven narrowed her eyes at the younger magic user. "And you have aligned yourself with the UNSC."

"They saved me from Salem's henchmen" Amber commented. "They even rehabilitated them...well after the interrogation." She shivered as she remembered that day. She still couldn't be in the same room as Sandra alone. "They even asked if I could teach their troops how to fight like Huntsmen. I am not the best teacher however."

"I can tell." Raven snarked at her. "So, what? You here to arrest me?"

Amber let her right-hand stray over her sidearm. "Either that or else"

Raven scoffed. "If you think your fancy army boys can stop me, think again!"

"If that true, why did you run form the tank?" Amber asked with a cheeky grin on her face.

Raven glared at Amber and charged her. The magic gifted bandit leader drew her dust bladed sword and tried to stab her, only to receive a powerful kick to her gut the forced her off of Amber. Amber readied her staff, as Raven readied her sword.

"Your still young." Raven smirked. "Let me show you with years of practice with my powers can do!" Raven fire a burst of ice at Amber who dodged most of the blast, but her left foot was frozen solid. Amber tried to break free when she heard engines above her. Both Raven and Amber looked up to see the StealthStar overhead, its guns now trained on raven as it came in for a strafing run.

"She how you like this you Fraker!" Starbuck yelled as she fired her two 20mm autocannons at Raven who expertly managed to dodge the volley of fire only to feel a sharp pain in her right shoulder. She looked over at Amber who had several leaves floating around her in the wind. With the flick of her wrist Amber frozen the leaves into solid ice and launched them at Raven like her own organic autocannon.

Raven wasn't going to let this slide however as she gathered her power into her hand and fire a powerful fireball at Starbuck's Stealthstar, knocking two of its three engines offline sending the already damaged starfighter down into the center of the Village. Civilian defenders had to run as the Colonial ship slammed into the ground grinding to a halt near the Town hall.

[ Shion Town Center, Stealthstar crash site]

Kara ripped off her helmet and caught her breath. "Today just isn't my day." She said to herself as she watched more bandits try to close in on the defenders. Suddenly her radio came to life, if was the Shortsword pilot form earlier.

"Starbuck, need some help?" The Airforce fighter-bomber flew low overhead before coming around for another pass.

"We got a lot of bad guys down here, think you can clear them out?" Starbuck asked as she got out of her downed ship and grabbed her Colonial Semi-automatic pistol.

"Clearing out baddies?" The pilot asked, Starbuck could hear the grin on his face. "Package on the way." The speedy bomber flew overhead, its bomb bay opening wide as its Mark 208 carpet bombs dropped down below, incinerating many bandits, though some escaped the blast, with auras drained and badly hurt.

"Nice one." Kara responded

"Thanks." the pilot replied. "Hey, how did you get shot down? These assholes don't have the guns to shoot down even a WWI piston fighter."

"The leader has some freaky powers!" Starbuck responded. "She is some sort of...magic duel with one of your guys!"

"Amber's in trouble?!" The pilot asked, shocked. "Shit! Can anyone provide fire support for Amber?"

One of the Vultures with a Sparrowhawk escort responded. "We read you loud and clear. We will provide out little witch with some help."

"I can freaking hear you!" Amber shouted over her radio. "For the last time, I am not a witch!"

"You can do magic, that enough for me." the Vulture pilot replied back casually. "We are on our way to provide aerial fire support."

The sound of fire blasts could be heard form Amber's comm as Raven tried to cook her alive. "Sooner the better!"

[Shion market District, Shion Village]

Back with Amber, her situation was deteriorating fast. She had to encase herself in a cocoon of ice as Raven used her maiden powers to try and melt the younger girl. Massive waves of fire washed over the icy shield, melting it away faster than Amber could repair it.

"Come on guys." Amber said to herself. "Any time now!"

Raven stood over the icy shield, lightning cracking in her hands and on the blade of her sword. "Only the strong survive." She said down to the shield as she raised her blade to strike down Amber. Suddenly, the loud explosion of a pair of Phoenix missiles form the A-74 Vertical Missile Launcher hit the ground near Raven, the blast sending her into a nearby building.

"Anyone call for air support?" The pilot of the Vulture laughed over his loudspeaker.

"Cutting it a bit close there." Amber replied.

" _Serenity_ doesn't move very fast, but her weapon range makes up for that." The pilot replied.

"You named your gunship?" Amber asked, quite surprised.

"You huntsmen name your weapons." The Pilot defended himself. "Why can't I name my ship?"

"No, it's just... _Serenity_ is an odd name for a gunship." Amber explained to the pilot.

The pilot shrugged. "I like it. She gives me peace and calm when I take her up in the air."

"Fair enough." Amber replied. She got up and out of her ice shield and went over to where the missile launched Raven. The rouge maiden was gone. "Shit! She's gone!" She looked up at the Longsword performing strafing runs further away in the village. "Longsword squadron Aegis., any of your guys see her? She is wearing a red and black mistral style dress and a large sword sheath."

"This is Raven 1-1, negative Autumn, _Kellion_ 's got nothing on sensors." The first longsword replied as Amber rolled her eyes realizing that the pilot had called his jet by name. Looks like Remnant was rubbing off on them already.

"This is Raven 1-2, I got visual on the target." The second longsword replied. "She is trying to head out of the village along with several other bandits by the east quadrant."

The driver of the Scorpion tank spoke up over the comms. "This is Scorpion _Firebrand_ reporting in, I am in the sector, I'll cut them off. And yes, before you comment Lieutenant Autumn, I named my tank. Armies have done so from the first tanks of World War I and I am not breaking tradition."

"I am never going to hear the end of this, am I?" Amber asked.

"Not likely." The Vulture pilot from before chimed in. Amber sighed as she readied her staff and rushed off the East side of the Village.

[Shion Village, Eastern side]

Raven, vernal and the few surviving members of their tribe who were not dead or captured tried to escape. Raven was not prepared to fight a powerful military force AND another maiden alongside them, and neither was her tribe. They decided to cut their losses and escape, or at least they tried to do so.

The heavy rumble of an engine and the grinding of treads against earth and stone was heard as the M808B Scorpion tank came around the corner at 60 miles per hour before pulling a quick turn and stopping before the escaping bandits, the name _Firebrand_ written with white paint on the barrel of its 105mm gun instead of the normal 90mm gun.

Its loud speakers came to life. "Greeting ladies and gentlemen of the Branwen Tribe." The Tanker began. "On behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore and Staff Sargent Hudson, I am here to offer you the chance to surrender and go to jail peacefully."

Raven stepped forward her sword at the ready and Vernal at her side. "And if we refuse?"

"How does 105 millimeters of High explosive tungsten rounds delivered at high velocity to your faces strike you?" The tanker replied as he leveled the main gun at Raven's face, opting to be quite literal with his statement.

Raven shrugged. "I'll take that chance." She looked at Vernal and they two nodded. With Huntress agility the two leapt out of the tank's line of fire as it tried to shoot them, the two running to either side of the tank. The tank tried to turn its gun fast enough to target the rouge maiden, but her agility was much faster than the rotors of the turret. With Maiden enhanced strength, she jumped at the tank her sword aimed where the Turret meet the hull. The powerful strike was the UNSC's first glance into the true power of the huntsmen of Remnant. Raven's strike severed the heavy turret of the tank and sent it flying off the main hull. Before the tanker could even realize what had happened, Vernal jumped on the hull and slashed at the main hatch ripping it open.

"The fuck!?" The tanker inside shouted up in surprise. He pulled out a UNSC made Z-130 Suppressor Directed Energy automatic weapon and fired up without aiming making Vernal stagger backward as the rapid firing blue bolts flew upwards. He then shifted the tank into gear, without the turret the tank was several tons lighter and was able to exceed it's 60 mph speed limit and the sudden acceleration threw Vernal off the damaged tank as it attempted to retreat.

Raven was about to chase down the crippled tank when the loud whirr of aircraft engines filled her ears. A Sparrowhawk came into view, its guns strafing the others of her tribe. Storm cloud gathered overhead as she called down lighting onto the VTOL craft. The powerful bolt of natural plasma and electricity struck the Sparrowhawk but from the 20th century, humanity has made aircraft capable of withstanding lighting strikes by making it flow through the frame and out again, and the VTOL was unaffected. It stopped it's attack on the bandits and turned on her however. Its 4 20mm cannons fired at her as Raven simply help up her hand, her aura enhanced by her magic absorbing the shots with ease.

The VTOL pilot ceased fire out of shock of her power as Raven smirked. "Time to stop holding back." She said to herself as she launched herself at the VTOL with a powerful jump.

As Raven landed on the Sparrowhawk's cockpit the pilot looked on in fear. "How in the hell did you do that?" She asked

"Fuck you, that's how." Raven said back with a smirk as she pulled back her sword to stab the pilot. The Sparrowhawk pilot was not going to let her do so easily as she increased throttle to the port rotor, sending the craft into a sideways trajectory at high speed. Raven held on as the pilot tried to shake her off.

"Let go you, gods damn witch!" The pilot shouted as she tried to avoid the tops of the village's buildings. Her only response was Raven stabbing her sword threw the cockpit glass, nearly missing her but surprising her enough to loss her grip on the control stick. The out-of-control craft hit the top of a general store before crashing into the ground sending Raven flying off into the dirt.

[Sparrowhawk SH-2514 crash site, Market District, Shion Village]

Raven coughed and tried to get up. Her aura flashed and crackled before shimmering out, broken, leaving her defenseless. A pair of noises got her attention. One the sound of the Pilot form before racing to open her cockpit hatch. Raven's vision was blurry, but the craft wasn't on fire and Raven didn't have the strength to go after her, so she didn't know why she was panicking the way she was. That's went the second sound graced her ears. The sound of hoofs on stone. The injured maiden craned her head up to try and see what was coming towards. Obscured by smoke of a nearby burning building, Raven could make out the figure on horseback. Something was off about it however as the rider seemed slumped forward with elongated arms and both him and the horse were larger than normal. As it got closer, Raven could see what the pilot was panicked. It was a Grimm, and a very large one. Multiple arrows, spears and more were stabbed into the "rider's" back with a knife imbedded into the neck of the 'horse'. The rider seemed to 'awaken', and it twitched and moved rapidly and unnaturally.

Raven wasn't about to die to some new horror form the ranks of the Grimm and tried to get up, but she was slow and hurt, clutching her side in pain. She got to her feet and tried to get away, hobbling slowly to the downed UNSC VTOL, which was now abandoned by its pilot. The thing would never fly but its weapons still looked operational. Raven knew they would be enough to stop the creature. She hobbled closer and closer when she stopped. Nothing was in her way, but she felt something. The warmth of breath on her neck. The Grimm was right behind her. It was watching her trying to escape. It was _toying_ with her. She turned around and was face to face with the Grimm horse half of the creature.

Raven glared at it. "You are enjoying this, aren't you?" She asked it, the rider's head just twitched and left it leaned to the side, as if curious about her. "Your old enough to be smart. Salam loves it when you bastards get smart." The Creature reared back in surprise upon the mention of Salam's name. "I won't be your entertainment." Raven raised her sword in one last show of defiance. The Grimm 'rider' let out an unholy scream that sounded like the echoing howls of the damned and the Horse reared back to slam down on Raven.

Raven didn't want to die and hoped by some miracle she would be saved. That's went the sound of a gunshot and small explosion graced her ears along with screeches of pain form the Grimm. Looking to her right, Raven saw another one of the soldiers, this one dressed differently form the other UNSC troops. In her hands was a large pistol and on the shoulder of her jacket read " _Battlestar Galactica BSG-75_ ".

"You ok?" the blond trooper came up to Raven.

Raven grunted. "Only if you can kill that thing."

"Sorry, I used my only explosive shot." Starbuck replied a she put Raven's arm over her shoulder to try and support her. Behind them, the Grimm began to get back on its feet. "What the frak is that thing?!" Starbuck asked.

Raven was confused by her use of frak over fuck, but different cultures and languages existed even on Remnant. "A creature of Grimm, and a smart fucker to boot."

"How do you kill it?" Starbuck asked as the Grimm got back to its feet and began to approach the two. However, its own heavy footfalls were soon joined by another rumble, an engine, but one heavier than the scorpion. The Grimm turned around to see the Grizzly tank come around the corner, it's 120mm gun turning to aim at the Grimm which faced it down. The grimm rider let out an unholy scream that sounded like the echoes of the damned souls form hell and the Grizzly driver revved his monstrous rear-housed low-profile liquid-cooled hydrogen-injected ICE I/C plant as the large UNSC Vehicle stared down the Grimm. It lashed out with one its arms striking the heavy armor by its forward upper glacis. The thick Titanium plates barely dented as these tanks could survive multiple hits form Wraith plasma mortars and heavy plasma cannons. The Grimm looked stunned, as if this was the first time it ever faced something stronger than itself. In its state of shock, the M850 tank aimed it twin guns on the rider half of the Grimm. As it fired the high explosive shells ripped into the heavy bonelike plates of the grimm and the detonations of the shells tore it apart. With the rider dead, he Grimm began to dissolve, the weapon in its back falling to the ground.

Raven looked at the fight, seeing just how one sided it was for the UNSC to deal with the Grimm. Their weapons were stronger but that left one question. What did they fight to NEED such weapons?!

The sound of stomping feet and aircraft engines got her out of her negative mind set as UNSC Ground troops and their aircraft converged on the area, the rest of her tribe behind them in handcuffs minus Vernal.

Amber stood before her and the pilot who was helping her stand, Staff in hand. "Good job Lt Thrace." she commended the pilot. "You just found the most wanted woman on in Anima."

"Oh." Starbuck looked at Raven. "No problem. By the hell was that...monster!?"

"First time seeing a Creature of Grimm?" Amber asked as Starbuck nodded. "It was what we know as a Nuckelavee Grimm. And that was an old one. They keep growing and get smarter the older they are."

"It... understood me." Raven said weakly.

Amber looked at her. "Your Qrow's sister, aren't you?" Amber said, less of a question more of a statement. Raven looked up at her with a slight glare. "You know how it understood you. You know...who was its master." Starbuck looked confused by this cryptic conversation but didn't interrupt. "Why did you turn you back on Ozpin?"

"Why did you?" Raven shot back.

Amber is unfazed. "I didn't." Amber replied. "I just allied with UNSC to help Remnant and them with their own problems."

Raven smirked. "And when will they finally tell the Kingdoms of their existence?" She laughed. "They have the largest and most powerful military on the planet and half of Remnant thinks they are a shipping company out of some hermit kingdom!"

"They will do so when they feel the time is right." Amber countered.

"And when is that?" Raven shot back. "When they have a navy larger than Atlas? More ground troops?"

"When they are ready to go home!" Amber shouted at Raven. "They are in the middle of a horrible war, larger than ANYTHING we have known on Remnant, fighting for their very right to exist and they asked us for our help! I help them because I am more worried about the Covenant Empire than Salem and her damned pets! The Covenant could _glass_ Remnant, turn it into an uninhabitable rock, Salem Can't! She and her Grimm are not even a blip on the radar compared to horrors like the Flood and the Halo array!"

"Specialist Autumn!" Hudson shouted form behind her, Amber flinched at the volume of his voice. "That's enough. Civilians are still here as well."

Amber looked over to see a few Shion civilians and defenders being held back by Army troopers, many looking at her. Hudson came up to her and sighed. "She is just trying to get under your skin, but things like the Covenant, Flood and Halo are not things we need everyone to know about right away. The Grimm would have a field day with the panic that news would make." He explained to the young maiden.

"Sorry, sir." Amber looked down, ashamed for revealing such sensitive topics so willingly.

"The hell is a Halo?" Starbuck asked Raven. The Bandit leader shrugged, just as in the dark as Starbuck was.

"It's way above your pay grade and thus none of your damn business at the moment, _Lieutenant_ " Hudson said as he addressed Starbuck, emphasizing her rank as a way to tell her to drop the subject.

"Looks who is all high and mighty now that I can't fight back." Raven spat at the ODST.

Hudson didn't seem to care. "Lady, I fight shit that can do what you did to that tank in large numbers with my team, all of us together, we'd kick your ass. Your Harry Potter BS is... new, but we have dealt with new surprises all the time. Magic won't help you much."

"Salem is a powerful magic user." Raven commented. "Think your Army can stop her?"

"Nope." Hudson said. "That's the Navy's job. A Few orbital MAC rounds and she will cease to exist."

"You think it's that easy to deal with her?" Raven said, noticing a shadow behind Hudson on a nearby building, it was Vernal. She had her weapons ready and jumped at the ODST.

Hudson unholstered his M41 Rocket launcher, hitting Vernal in the face and sending her down onto the ground were the rest of the Troops surrounded her. "Ya, I do." Hudson replied. "Your superhuman strength and abilities are impressive, but we already fight things that can rip us apart with ease. It kinda loses the 'wow' factor it would have had back in 2525. The semblance is still cool and magic...well I am still coming to terms with that...and the fact that no one can learn it."

"Sorry Hudson." Amber said with a smile as she cuffed Raven with Aura neutralizing cuffs.

"Ya ya." Hudson waved her off. "Well then Raven, do you want to old tired Miranda rights thing or just get it over with."

"The less I hear you voice, the better" Raven commented.

Hudson shrugged and waved for the Troops to begin loading them into the Pelicans for transport back to the Orion assault carrier _Saratoga_ and called in aid for the village and heavy lift gear for Starbuck's fighter, the Disarmed tank and the crashed Sparrowhawk. He did however think about what raven said, about hiding from Remnant. They would have to let everyone know the truth soon. The Question was however, how would Remnant respond?

* * *

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	20. Out of the Shadows

**Chapter 15**

 **Out of the Shadows**

Valiant Class Super Heavy Cruiser UNSC _Maryland_ ,New Asźod Shipyards, New Harvest, June 25, 2554

On the bridge of one of the most powerful vessels active in the Remnant UNSC's growing fleet, Curtis stood in full UNSC dress whites, looking a bit on edge. Next to him was Allison, and Blake, both of whom were also in dress whites.

"Curtis, you need to calm down." Allison assured him. "You did great with Mantle and Menagerie, you're going to be fine here."

"Mantle and Menagerie are isolated communities, not Kingdoms with armies that could declare war on us." Curtis responded.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "A single UNSC Frigate or Cylon heavy Cruiser could take on anything the kingdoms could throw at it, let alone a Battlestar or Battlecruiser."

"That's the point!" Curtis turned to them. "We could take over this planet and I fear they will think that is what we are doing and attack us! I do not wish to kill people who only attack out of fear, not malice or greed. It would be a massacre and would make us no better than the Covenant."

Allison sighed. "A Lot of wars have been fought over things like that in the past, haven't they?"

"Yes." Curtis replied, in a calmer tone. "And I am trying to learn from history to avoid those mistakes."

"Well, why take the _Maryland_ then?" Blake asked. "I don't care if you call it a super heavy cruiser, with the new weapons and upgrades to old systems you guys put in, it's a battleship whatever way you slice it, so why take it along?"

Curtis sighed. "Because we need to find a balance." He explained. "If we go with a handful of units and one or two ships, it could incentivize others that we are weak and can be taken over or pushed around. Take too much and that could scare the kingdoms into banding together against us and our allies. I need to find a mix that shows off the UNSC strength without appearing too weak or too strong."

"Why are we even planning this out so soon anyways?" Blake asked?

"It's a long story." Curtis explained. "Happened the day after our trip to the Colonies."

[New Asźod Shipyards, New Harvest, June 18, 2554]

The Orion class Assault Carrier UNSC _Saratoga_ was coming in for a landing after its troops held off a Bandit assault on a village on Anima. The Army company had captured a few prisoners, including a maiden who was leader of the group and a wanted woman. Curtis had come to watch the prisoners being offloaded to be transferred to a ship he felt wasn't going to get much use, an old pre-insurrectionist era ship, a Tartarus class Prison Transport ship, the UNSC _Alcatraz_. They had it built due to the number of White Fang Prisoners in the New Harvest Detention Station in orbit, but it was thought a backup would be needed as well as a dedicated ship to transport them to and from the station as if they got loose on a warship, the could cause major problems. The station and ship were manned by specially trained police officers from Mantel, Menagerie and New Harvest.

As Cutis watched the bandit leader, who had heavy aura dampening cuffs and a pair of troopers with the new X22 EMP Rifles that were modified to disable the aura of a huntsman or huntress temporarily allowing any weapon to harm them or to stop a semblance attack/escape. The woman, who he had been informed was known as Raven Branwen, struggled in her restraints, only to be kept moving by the jab of a rifle in her back as they marched her and her tribe members to the _Alcatraz_.

As she was approaching the prison ship, Curtis heard a commotion behind him.

"Sir, this area is off limits to civilians!" A military police officer shouted at a man who was trying to get closer to the ships. Curtis noticed the man had what seemed to be a handle of some kind of weapon peeking out behind a tattered red cape. He could also smell the alcohol the man likely had before arriving.

"I need to see her." The man said, his voice gravelly, and sounding dark, as if he was ready to attack.

"She is a criminal who attacked innocents." Curtis spoke up as he turned and approached the man. "You are dismissed men." the MPs saluted him and left. "Who are you? You sure as hell are not any huntsman under UNSC employ, as I would have fired you for drunken misconduct."

The man seemed to sober up fast, as if he wasn't truly drunk at all. "Or maybe because the UNSC doesn't employ huntsmen when you own troops can do the job just as well." He said with a smirk. "Still couldn't take one on without your fancy tricks or toys."

Curtis narrowed his eyes at the man. "Yes, a normal trooper squad cannot engage a trained huntsman, especially if they have a powerful aura, anyone on this planet could have told you that as its not only a weakness of the UNSC."

"True." The man admitted. "Not to mention you guys give Atlas a run for their money, at the same time you guys help those in need against attackers, be it Grimm, White Fang...or even just killers and thieves." He looked at Raven as she was being marched into the _Alcatraz_ before taking out a flask and downing some of its contents.

"How did you find New Harvest?" Curtis asked. "We have advanced AI sensor systems, recon patrols, orbital stations and satellites, how in the HELL did you just...walk into into our city?!"

"I flew in." The man replied.

"No ship could have gotten close without radar picking them up." Curtis told him. "Not even stealth fighters could."

"Could a bird get close?" the man asked with a smirk.

Curtis looked at him, confused. "The hell are you talking abo-"

The man cut him off. "I know you are the ones who saved Amber from those goons out to steal her powers, and I doubt that after all this time, you don't know what I mean by, her powers."

Curtis sighed. So, this was the one Amber talked about. "You were her bodyguard. You're Qrow Branwen."

Qrow smirked. "Nice to know she remembers me. A lot of people back home were very worried when she just disappeared."

"We gave her a save home to stay in instead of running from village to village, avoiding Salem's goons" Curtis told him. "She even joined up as our first Specialist trooper with the UNSC Marine Corp, though she cut her teeth in her first op yesterday with the Army, in which she helped capture your sister."

"Ya, I saw." Qrow replied.

"Wait what?" Curtis asked, quite surprised.

"I haven't left Amber's side, even when you picked her up." Qrow responded. "By the way, there is the bar in the city that stopped serving me drinks. Can you get them to lift that ban?"

"No, wait. Pause." Curtis said, trying to understand this mess. "You have been in New Harvest...for over a year!?"

Qrow pulled out his scroll with a UNSC ID badge New Harvest used as both an entry pass to enter the city and as proof of UNSC citizenship in the city itself. "Yep." He replied. "A bit hard to get used to the heavy wheel of one of your jeeps or those Alien hoverbikes, or get used to tanks and starships, but it a nice place to stay."

Curtis blinked as he realized that someone who was, if Amber was to be believed, a high-profile person who in touch with members of the Atlas Military and Vale High council had been in New Harvest...for over a year.

"Who else knows where New Harvest is?" Curtis asked him.

"You want to know who I told?" Qrow asked. "A few people. I gotta send reports after all."

"To who?!" Curtis demanded, getting upset at Qrow's nonchalant approach to this situation. He could put his city, his friends and those he cared for in danger and he needed to know who he talked to.

Qrow put up his hands in mock surrender. "Woah calm down. You act like I called in an army."

"That is what I am afraid of." Curtis told him.

Qrow sighed. "Professor Ozpin of Beacon academy, Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood"

"Ironwood?" Curtis felt an eyebrow twitch. "The headmaster of Atlas academy and the man in control of Atlas's robotic soldiers and specialists' divisions? THAT Ironwood?"

"Look, I know you are about to freak, but hear me out." Qrow said, trying to calm Curtis. "Jimmy can be an idiot at time, but he is a good man. He also has respect for the aid you give the people of Remnant."

Curtis sighed, at least the Atlesian Navy was not about to charge New Harvest. It would be one sided in the UNSC's favor, but he didn't want to just kill Atlas Troops if he could prevent it.

"He doesn't control all of Atlas's military." Curtis responded.

"The rest of Atlas's military doesn't know about Amber either. Trust me, Jimmy is good at keeping secrets" Qrow told him.

"So, what does Ozpin have to do with this?" Curtis asked.

"Old Oz knows about the maidens and Salem...and more." Qrow responded. Curtis just groaned. How much more complicated did Remnant's story get? "He has us look out for them, prevent anyone from misusing their powers."

"Kinda dropped the ball with your sister then" Curtis replied.

"What?" Qrow asked, confused.

"Raven is the Spring maiden." Curtis replied, getting a bit of satisfaction in seeing Qrow's jaw drop from that revelation. "As far as Salem's concerned, one we find her hiding spot, a Nuke or some orbital MAC strikes should end her. You have had access to our media, you should know what those are."

"Ya, I do." Qrow replied. "But it would be easier if you were not hiding in the shadows." This time it was Curtis turn to be Confused. "Ozpin asked me to see if I could get you guys to show yourselves to Remnant.

"Like a radio declaration?" Curtis asked.

"More like showing up to Vale in person." Qrow corrected. "A parade, you military types like that sort of stuff."

"Out of the question." Curtis responded. "We are not ready to let all of Remnant know about us."

"Then you should have put a gag in the villagers of Shion." Qrow replied. "Or have you not seen the daily news?"

"They talked?" Curtis asked

"Someone videotaped the whole battle." Qrow responded. "All of Remnant is wondering about you. Isn't the internet a beautiful thing?"

Curtis facepalmed, this couldn't get worse. "So, our secret is out and what, Ozpin wants us to revel ourselves to the public?"

Qrow shrugged "Better to get it done now, before people start looking and making rumors."

"Well, I can't argue there." Curtis responded. "Anyway, we can contact Ozpin and set this thing up?" Curtis...wasn't looking forward to this. Hell, he didn't like doing this for Mantel and that was much smaller than Vale. He was an ODST not a propaganda officer, of which none were aboard the _Hornet_ during the evacuation from Reach. Still, he was the face of this UNSC detachment, so he had to do it, weather he liked it or not.

"You got a scroll?" Qrow asked. Curtis nodded. "I'll give you Oz' number, you can contact him from there."

Curtis nodded, knowing the coming days, were going to be stressful.

[Bridge of the Semi complete Infinity class Supercarrier UNSC _Eternity_ ,New Harvest, June 20, 2554]

Curtis stood on the bridge of the semi completed Infinity supercarrier which doubled as the UNSC Regional HQ. The ship had been renamed _Eternity_ after the known second planned ship of the Infinity class, but Curtis had planned to make a new _Hornet_ once they started building up Punic Supercarriers as well. He stood by the main holotable along with Solara, in her new android body, her body looking like a normal human but her golden hair and eyes still had lines of data flowing through it, which set UNSC Smart AIs in android bodies apart from Cylons. They along with Miranda and Angela stood on the bridge in proper UNSC dress uniforms, of which Solara kept fidgeting with the collar of hers, as she felt it was uncomfortable, as they prepared to call Beacon academy. They just had to wait on Qrow, who was taking his time getting to the ship.

Curtis looked down at his watch. "Where the hell is he?" He asked. "It's not like anyone couldn't find the ship, it's one of the biggest things in the city!"

"Maybe he got drunk and passed out." Solara chimed in as she continued to adjust the collar of the uniform.

"I could send out some ONI agents to go find him." Angela offered. As she did the door to the bridge opened, with Neo, the survivor of the White Fang civil skirmish in Vale that Curtis had recused walked in, escorting Qrow. She had a new upgrade umbrella that incorporated Roman's cane into it and a jackal energy shield gauntlet into the parasol for added protection and was using it to prod Qrow along, who looked like he had been dragged out of bed by Neo.

"Would you stop poking me, short stuff?" Qrow asked the smaller girl. He just received a smack in the back of the head for calling her short.

"Thanks for finding him Neo." Curtis thanks her. She smiled and did a slight bow, having grown close to Curtis since her rescue.

"You know you didn't have to do this at...what, 8 o clock in the damn morning." Qrow complained.

"Ozpin is a school headmaster and you are a teacher at Signal." Curtis explained. Getting up early is part of your job."

"One of the reasons I don't like it." Qrow replied. "Welp, let's get his over with."

Curtis nodded before placing his scroll on the holotable, the ship's computers instantly began to call up Ozpin at Beacon Academy. It took a few minutes but soon, the connection was made as a Holographic representation of Ozpin, his aid, Glynda Goodwitch and even General James Ironwood who Curtis was _not_ expecting to be in Vale at this time.

"Hello there." Ozpin greeted the group. "May I ask who this is?"

"This is Commander Curtis Fletcher of the United Nations Space Command." Curtis replied in a calm, practiced tone gained form years of military experience. He may not have been a propaganda officer with the ability to woo a crowd, but he was still good at one on one diplomatic talks.

Ironwood raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. "So, the rumors are true." He replied. "You are a military."

Curtis sighed "Yes, we are." He replied. "One that has been through much and due to recent events, we can no longer hide in the shadows. You agent, Qrow, has informed me that you wish to have us publicly reveal ourselves."

Ozpin nodded "I felt it would be best before less...tasteful rumors began to start circulation after the announcement of that video with your troops." He explained "Though I will admit, it nice to see other going out of their way to help those in need."

Ironwood nodded. "I agree as well. Though I am a bit curious as to why you are so secretive."

"Secretive isn't actually the bets word as we don't keep that many things hidden from our citizens and soldiers, except very important information." Curtis explained. "Hell, we are much more open than our main branch back home, as we let civilians own and operate Covenant and Forerunner technology."

"I am sorry, Forerunner? Covenant?" Glynda asked, confused just like her allies. "Qrow mentioned these names in his reports but he never told us much."

"If we reveal ourselves, I will explain everything in one go. It's...a long story and I have already had to explain it twice to our allies in Menagerie and Mantel."

"So, you're the ones who rebuilt Mantel and gave Menagerie their city." Ironwood said.

"We gave them the means of building their own city, make them feel they earned it." Curtis explained. "Why? Is there something wrong with giving them something they deserved after all Remnant has done to them?"

Ironwood held up his hands "I didn't mean it like that." Ironwood explained. "I personally have always tried to help Mantel and I have nothing but respect for Faunus, even if the White Fang continue to be a threat. However, most of Atlas doesn't see things that way and a unanimous vote is needed to change certain laws."

"Politics, they are the bane of my existence no matter where we go. "Curtis commented.

"Somethings are universal it seems." Ozpin said. "Now, how is you would like to reveal your presence to the world?"

"Qrow joking brought up a military parade, and thinking about it more, it could actually work." Curtis explained. "Only downside is that everyone is familiar with our frigates and destroyers...and we would probably bring bigger ships along as a way to show off."

"I can get the skies cleared for your ships arrival." Ironwood said. "And I guess you will also do a march through the city?"

Curtis nodded. "A way to show off ground troops. Aside from occasional grimm attacks, my troops often have little to do other than train. I have had more than a few instances of them...misusing equipment due to boredom."

Ironwood had a sympathetic look on his face regarding that. "I know how that can be like. Give some troops a dropship and nothing to do and that dropship seems to find itself in unusual locations."

Ozpin appeared in be in thought. "Well, as much as I want to know more about your organization, you have made it clear that all will be announced upon your arrival. Speaking of which, how soon can you come?"

"I can get everything ready in a few days if need be." Curtis replied. "We pride ourselves on being quick to respond."

Ozpin smiled at bit. "Then we look forward to meeting you."

"And you as well, sir." Curtis replied before the connection hung up. He sighed.

"Not a big fan of public speaking?" Solara teased him.

Curtis responded by poking her cheeks, which she pouted at him for. "It's not that I am not a fan, it just that certain people have an energy to woo a crowd. My energy is sent towards being an ODST. If I had an ONI section 2 agent that would make life easier."

Miranda shrugged. "Any Section 2 agents escaped on public transport from Reach, we only have force recon and R&D agents."

Curtis simply stood straight and fixed his uniform. "Well, might as well try and get ready for this."

Solara did a little cheer "Yay! This is going to be fun!"

"You know, now that you have a body, you can try and act a bit more mature." Angela told the AI.

"I could, but where is the fun in that?" Solara replied with a smirk.

[Valiant Class Super Heavy Cruiser UNSC _Maryland_ ,New Asźod Shipyards, New Harvest, June 25, 2554]

Blake looked surprised. "Wow. So, that happened."

"Yes, yes it did." Curtis replied as he went over the fleet formation on the holotable. He had picked that the _Maryland_ would be the Command ship along the _Endurance_ and _Excalibur_ two Artemis class battlecruisers. They would be followed by 2 Marathon class heavy cruisers and 2 Halcyon class Light cruiser and finally a Wolfpack of 5 destroyers, led by Blake in the _Midsummer's Night_ and 5 frigates ranging from Paris heavies to Stalwart light frigates.

"I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me." Curtis said as he thought over the endless possibilities. He knew that Ironwood didn't control all of Atlas's military, even if he had two seats on the council and was worried of other Generals getting jumpy by such a show of force, which is why he left our any carriers in his fleet, as just bringing in air force assets would suffice for the demonstration.

"This will be fine!" Allison told him. "We show up, put on a show, answer some questions and then all will be good."

"You make it sound so simple." Curtis smiled at Allison. "Maybe you're right. I am just worrying too much."

[ Vale City Center, Kingdom of Vale, June 25,2554]

Ozpin stood up on a stage with a large crowd before him. The roads were left open with help from a few troops under General Ironwood and two of his peers, Rear Admiral Erika Steele of the Atlesian Navy in command of the Battlecruiser _Winter's Howl_ part of Black squadron and General Chriss Meridian of the Atlesian 76th semi mechanized infantry battalion onboard the Battlecruiser _Avenger_ alongside the _Winter's Howl_.

Ozpin looked down at his scroll and checked the time. _They will be here soon_ He thought. He soon received a message eon his scroll from a vessel identifying itself as the _Maryland_ stating he should begin the introduction. Ozpin looked up into the sky form the direction of the sea, as that's where the UNSC said they would come from but saw no ships. He sighed and decided to just go with it.

Ozpin clear his throat as the crowds and news reporters below turn to face him. "Ladies and Gentlemen of Remnant, I come before you today to hopefully end the rumors that have emerged form Anima in the last few days." He began, the crowd below now listening closely. "We have all seen the video of an unknown military saving the village of Shion from Grimm and Bandits, and we all know it has some connection to the mysterious UNSC that has become integral to shipping and aid services. I am here to tell you today that I have been contacted by the leader of the UNSC and he has decided to come here to Vale to finally dispel the rumors and answer the questions of his organization." Ozpin was a bit worried as he _still_ didn't see any UNSC ship and it was time for them to show up, he took a breath and hope they had a spectacular entrance planned. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the United Nations Space Command."

He gestured toward the sea and as soon as the word left his mouth, something unexpected happened. Several massive swirling vortexes, tears in the fabric of reality opened up as all eyes and camera focus on them. From the foremost portal, a massive ship in dark gray armored plating pushed itself out of the portal, on its side in white lettering as UNSC _Maryland_ CA-246, next to which read _UNSC Valiant class cruiser_.

The _Maryland_ was followed by several vessels, Battlecruisers, Light and heavy cruisers and Destroyers and frigates. A true fleet of power on display as the camera's focused on the ships emerging from the depths of the portals, all of them looking like massive guns with powerful engines attached to them. The familiar Frigates and occasional destroyers but the larger cruisers were a completely new sight. From the sides of the city large black shapes appeared coming toward the city at high speed, it was the fighters of the UNSC Airforce while below them, the UNSC Army as coming in, with battalions of warthogs, tanks, APCs and more the a few captured Covenant vehicles such as Wraiths, Revenants and Ghosts and groups of Forerunner Promethean troops and Sentinels. The Underside launch tubes for ODST pods and heavy mechs were primed as the Halcyon cruisers _Solace of Winter_ and _Emden_ waited for Army units to enter the city as the Marathon cruisers _Indianapolis_ and _Pandora's Box_ launched Pelicans and Condors that linked up with the fighters to continue the airshow. The lead pelicans flown by Apollo and Noisemaker with the YSS-2000 Katana spearheading the formation. The pelicans had all been outfitted with speakers that played the song " **Follow Our Brothers** " performed and recorded by the UNSC Symphony orchestra as the ODST HEVs and mechs ranging from Cyclopes to Mega Mantis, to Colossus and even ADS exoskeletons joining the army parades down below. Civilians and Atlas troops watched heavy tanks and towering mech that dwarfed any that Atlas had made walk past in parade formation. Troops in their new heavier semi-powered armor sets rode on the bogies of tanks and waved to the crowds, a few kids even waving back as they marched onwards toward the center were the stage was set up. The smaller ships flew ahead of the larger capital ship which stopped and turned in place. The Frigates and destroyers circled around Beacon academy before rejoining at the rear of the fleet that now had Beacon to its rear and Vale before it, Fighters, Interceptors and Dropships flying in-between them. A Condor heavy dropship launched form the _Maryland_ and landed on the stage next to Ozpin who stepped out of the way for the ship, its hybrid fusion engines glowing brightly as it touched down on heavy suspension held landing gear. The dropships engines died down as the back ramp opened and form it, came Curtis, Allison, Blake, Angela and Amber, all dressed in their respective dress uniforms looking prim and proper as they came out and gave Ozpin a respectful salute.

"That's quite an entrance." Ozpin joked.

Curtis just shrugged. "The UNSC is known for its grand entrances."

"I can tell." Ozpin remarked as most of the columns of UNSC troops and vehicles came to a stop. He could see the troops in armor can could tell the different branches. Army troops wore dust brown, gray, or olive drab armor. A heavy metal armor that covered arms, legs, chest and more while leaving joints semi exposed as to not hinder movement, a softer fabric like armor covering the joints. They wore advanced looking helmets with glass covering their eyes that appeared to have heads up displays, showing them information about their weapons, ammo and their own health and surroundings.  
Air Force troops wore the less amount of armor, either in just an olive flight suit with no armor and a white flight helmet or a slightly armored g-suit with fatigues, soft body armor with metal shoulder, leg bracing and a more armored helmet and they seemed to have a pair of thrusters near the base of their spine, there purpose, he could say.  
Navy personal seemed to not wear armor but different colored uniforms depending on their positions onboard the very ships hovering overhead.  
The Marines wore a more fully encompassing fatigues that had a two-tone greenish gray camouflage whereas the armor is issued in both reflective drab and matte forest green, with balaclavas and tactical goggles with HUDs covering their faces, with a few who wore a lighter armor and a full helmet, which seemed to be for marine pilots.  
Then were what Ozpin would later know, as the ODSTs. They wore armor similar to the Marines only it was black and or dark gray with fully helmets that hid their faces from view, though some had the glass un-tinted, as it seemed the visor could tint and un-tint at will, and they walked with an air of Special Forces operatives.  
Lastly was the ONI Agents of Force Recon. They wore light black armor and a some wore a helmet like the ODSTs but of a different style with a smaller golden visor and welded mainly weapons with silencers. All the human troops had strange glowing line on the backs of their armor and clothing, along their spines, something Ozpin couldn't guess what its purpose was other than a dim light source. The Glowing Robots, and towering mechs were still a mystery to Ozpin, one he was hoping would be solved by the end of this ceremony.

"Care to take the mic?" Ozpin offered the UNSC Commander. Curtis nodded and did so, stepping forward before the crowd.

" _By the time I get back to Earth, I could join Section two of ONI as a Propaganda officer._ " Curtis thought to himself as he stood before the mic. He cleared his throat, getting all eyes on him. "Greetings everyone, I am Commander Curtis Fletcher of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force. I am sure you all wish to know just what _is_ the UNSC, don't you?" Several nods were all he got as most were still dumbstruck by the ships hovering overhead, leaving Curtis wondering if he overdid it. He mentally shrugged, no turning back now. "The UNSC is the Military, exploratory and scientific arm of the United Earth Government, or UEG. For all of you wondering what 'Earth' is," He looked over as Angela placed down a Holo-emitter "It is our homeworld." A holographic image of Earth appears before all, in all its splendor. "Yes, the UNSC is an interstellar organization from another world, but we are not aliens. From what we have discovered, we are just as human as those before me. We are still trying to find out how two different planets could develop the same species, but for now, it remains a mystery."

A news reporter from the crowd stepped forward. "Why would an advanced civilization like yourselves come to our world?"

"It wasn't by choice." Curtis told her. "One thing I have based my troops on is that fact that I don't hide information that could help them in battle from them, and I don't hide from those who deserve to know the truth. What I am about to say next is not a present story. It is a retelling of the events that have shaped the UNSC to what it is now. For those who wish to leave...i recommend you do so now." Murmurs were abounding, but in the end, no one left, either steeling themselves for his story, not thinking it couldn't be that bad. "Ok then. "The holo emitter image shifted to a world known across UNSC space as Harvest, before the Covenant. "For 500 years, the UNSC pushed out into the frontier of space and by the year 2525, we had over 800 worlds colonized and growing." Eyes widened at that number of planets. "They were divided into the Inner and Outer colonies. One of the Outer Colony worlds, Harvest was a simply agricultural world. Life was peaceful... until _they_ came." His voice hardened for a moment.

"They?" Ozpin asked.

"They call themselves...The Covenant." Curtis said as the Image of a CCS Battlecruiser hovering over Harvest was shown, it was as large if not larger than the ships overhead and its purple, organic hull gave off unsettling feelings in the crowd. "This is the CCS Battlecruiser _Rapid Conversion_. It came to Harvest and we tried to establish peaceful first contact...We failed." The image shifted again to images of the First Battle of Harvest led by the Colonial Military Administration. On the ground, troops tried to hold back the onslaught of Covenant troops, bullets vs plasma, while in space, Battle Group 4, consisting of a Hillsborough class Destroyer and 2 Charon class light Frigates tried to fight a Covenant Super Destroyer and were dismantled except the CMA _Hercules_ and a message came over the speakers form one of the Covenant's Prophets for all of Remnant to hear.

" _Your destruction is the will of the gods_ " It said, and air of superiority dripping from each word. " _And WE are their instruments_ "

The crowd was then taken back in horror as the images shifted to the Covenant glassing Harvest, powerful unyielding beams of superheated plasma melted the planet's surface into glass as the UNSC was helpless to stop it.

"We won minor victories" Curtis said, as the images showed a stationary mass drives shooting down the cruiser that started Harvest's problems. "And we thought the conflict would be limited to Harvest...we had no idea what was about to befall our people. The war that had just begun."

Images shifted once more, showing the planets of Arcadia, Jericho IV, Algolis, Meridian, and finally Reach before...and after they had been glassed.

"They hunted us down like dogs across known space." Curtis explained as images of a massive CAS Assault carrier pushing itself out of slipspace and raining hell upon a pair of cruisers who didn't even have time to fight back, groups of Mgalekgolo Hunters smashing a Warthog with its shield, the 'Hog's occupants sent flying as its bond brother destroyed a second one, this one a Troop transport Warthog with its fuel rod cannon with ease and finally a family huddled together as a Brute pack bore down upon them, sadistic grins on the alien apes faces as they approached he petrified civilians. That one hit Curtis a bit too close to home.

"They thought we should die because their religious leaders demanded it" Curtis said with renewed vigor. "They thought us primitive and easy to defeat. They...thought... _wrong_!"

Images then shifted to major fights in which the UNSC won. Music began to play once more in the background, this time the song was known as **Leonidas** as the emitter showed battles won or the UNSC resolve to win, and the former fear that permeated the air was replaced by amazement and awe. The UNSC _Commonwealth_ taking on the _Unrelenting_ alone, its MAC gun spearing through it hull, the marine known as Ghost form the Hades Corps n Algolis in the prototype ADS suit taking on a Covenant Battalion _alone_ and taking down, Banshees, Wraiths and Phantoms and swaths of Covenant troops. The last images were of the Battle of Psi Serpentis and they also had a special audio file attachment that played as it focused on the UNSC _Everest_ a ship many could see was of the same class as the _Maryland_ above.

The recording played as the voice of Vice Admiral Preston Cole came over the speakers. "Listen to me, _Covenant_. I am Vice Admiral _Preston J. Cole_ commanding the human flagship, _Everest_. You claim to be the holy and glorious inheritors of the universe? I spit on your so-called holiness. You dare judge us unfit? After I have personally sent more than three hundred of your vainglorious ships to hell? After kicking your collective butts off Harvest - not once - but twice? From where I sit, we are the worthy inheritors. You think otherwise, you can come and try to prove me wrong." As the recording played it showed the Covenant fleet turning after Cole's lone ship that flew into a gas giant, the alien ships following him, firing their weapons in a bid to destroy his ship, only for the _Everest_ fired all its nuclear missiles not at the fleet - but the planet, igniting it and turning it into a brown dwarf star, vaporizing the fleet. Some of the crowd actually cheered as the Covenant fleet was destroyed and Curtis couldn't blame them, Cole was a hero who pulled off the impossible many times. Another showed the UNSC _Iroquois_ taking on a Covenant battle group alone, and surviving using the Keyes Loop, created by the captain of the Destroyer, Jacob Keyes. The last image was that of a CAS Assault Carrier being destroyed via a Nuclear armed longsword that landed under its shields, the bright flash illuminating the darkness of the void around it briefly like a star.

"While we have won many battles and sent tens of thousands of their damned vessels to the scrapyard... we fight a losing battle." Curtis explained as the images shifted to the Glassing of Reach. "Our homeworld, Earth...it's all we have left at this point. Their maybe some Outer and if we are lucky Inner colonies that have been untouched or partially intact, but as far as we know...Earth is all the remains. It our home to which I, and my fellow UNSC soldiers will return to once we are able, so we may defend it against those who seek to destroy it."

James Ironwood, who stood among his troops keeping the citizens away from the UNSC Troops, looked up at Curtis. "What do you mean, when you are ready?" Ironwood asked. "Your fleet seems more than ready for a fight."

The emitter shifted to the original Punic version of the _Hornet_ "Our flagship and the vessel we came here on, the Punic supercarrier _Hornet_ was an experiment by our Officer of Naval Intelligence or ONI." Curtis explained. "It fielded new technologies from reversed engineered alien technology. Plasma weapons, energy shielding, advanced slipspace drives and more. It was damaged in battle with a threat... that surpasses even the Covenant yet one we have only just discovered along with the whole reason for this war in the first place. But that is where I feel this would be best explained...but those who know a bit more about the topic." He turned toward the Condor. "Defiance? Dawn? You're up."

Camera trained on the dropship as form within its hold, a silver orb like machine with a Green glowing eye and a figure in silver and white armor with blue glowing lines in between the armor plate like some of the robot troops of the UNSC came out. They came up to Curtis were the 'helmet' of the being retracted to revel a very non-human face. All of remnant stood aghast as the first true alien stood before them. The features of her face were slender and kind, showing her to be female and somewhat human in appearance. She had white hair that seemed almost synthetic yet at the same time it didn't. She looked out with kind eyes at the crowd.

"Greetings." Dawn began. "I am Eternal-Light-Of-Dawn, Lifeworker of the Forerunner Ecumene. It is a pleasure you meet you all."

"Hello Reclaimers, I am 5648 Resolute Defiance." The monitor introduced himself. "I am the former Monitor of Shield Instillation 56-B and Personal Assistant to Lifeworker Dawn and Promethean Coordinator for the United Nations Space Command."

Ozpin looked shocked, he didn't expect to see _actual_ aliens here today, even after Qrow's reports of the UNSC's extraterrestrial nature. "This is...quite a surprise." Ozpin said. "Your story made it seems like all aliens were against the UNSC."

Defiance took over, as he loved to explain, and Curtis didn't mind. "While there was once a moment in time when the Forerunners and the Humans once battled, that was over millennia ago and have long since been forgotten, but I assume that raises more questions, doesn't it?"

Ozpin nodded. "Yes, much more."

"I will try and condense this story down as much as I can, but it covers over 100,000 years' worth of events, and even further back if you want the _entire_ story." The Monitor explained.

"I think the short version will suit us just fine." Ozpin stated.

"Very well." Defiance said. "But short, isn't a word I would use to describe this tale." This own holo emitter triggers as multiple images began to be shown. "Over 100,000 years ago, humanity once matched my creators in technological standing, the Forerunners only being slightly more advanced." The images showed Ancient human empires and hyper advanced ships that blew both the UNSC and Covenant ships out of the water. "They had been noted as violently expanding into Forerunner territory, destroying planets with reckless abandon. The Lord of Admirals known as Forthencho burned many colonies away, for seemingly no reason." The images showed a human cruiser firing on a planet in a way reminiscent of the later Covenant's glassing.

"The Forerunners ignored the human's hails as they tried to explain their actions and declared war on them. For years it raged on and it ended with humanity's de-evolution to a pre-industrial state." Defiance explained a sit showed more tribal humans living in some sort of preserve. "It was only after their defeat...did the Forerunners learn what the humans were doing." His voice grew dark. "They were not expanding... _they were running_."

The crowd seemed to grow uneasy at this. "Running form what?" A young girl, no more than 16 who wore a red hood asked form the crowd.

"We call it...the Flood." Defiance answered as the images shifted to a wave of Infection and combat forms pouring through a hallway on a Forerunner ship that had been boarded. Many looked away in shock and horror at what they saw. Litteral monsters, made form dead flesh. "It's a parasitic organism of which its origins are unknown but believed to come from a satellite galaxy known as the Large Magellanic cloud. Its super cell converts a victim down to the molecular level, it seeing organic life as nothing more than food. Humanity had encountered it first and had managed to create a cure and drove it off. After the war with humanity however...that cure was lost...and they came back." Images showed old infected human ships returning from whatever void they sat in and began to crash onto Forerunner world to begin infecting them. "Our forces, exhausted from the war with humanity...began to fall. Even our Prometheans, the robotic constructs who see before you, were not enough to stop the parasites advance. For 300 years we fought the flood, all combat measures were exhausted...except one last weapon."

The images shifted once more to a massive structure. A Ring that floated in space, an Earth like surface in its interior. "This, is a Halo ring." Defiance explained. "A lesser Halo to be precise as the original greater array were much larger. Seven of these 10,000-kilometer rings were made and sent to certain points in the galaxy...to end this war." The projection showed a Halo, with energy building within its center before it unleashed a massive pulse that covered star systems. "Halo, my creators last terrible weapon for victory against an even more terrible foe, worked and all sentient life in the Galaxy was destroyed."

Silence. Dead silence was all that could be heard minus the purr of idling UNSC tank engines or the distance whine of news Bullhead turbines. All life!? But, then how were they here!? Before anyone could ask, Defiance continued. "I know what you all must be wondering as my UNSC allies had similar reactions. How are you all alive if the array fired 100,000 years ago?" Defiance said. "For that, you have both the Lifeshaper Liberian and my own Creator to thank for that."

"Defiance, you flatter me too much. "Dawn said. "I alone cannot be given the credit as it was the efforts of all lifeworkers and the Librarian who led us in enacting the Conservation Measure." She turned to the crowd to now looked at her for an explanation. "Before the array fired and before the Flood became too wide spread, we Lifeworkers set about indexing all life in the galaxy. Trillions of genetic samples were taken from each species, and it is known that more would evolve long after the array fired. We indexed all life so that after the array fired, Keyships would head out and repopulate their homeworlds so they many restart their civilizations may bloom once more." She looked down, saddened. "Yes, all civilizations...except our own. The council realized it was our own arrogance that led to the flood getting out of control, and if we listen to humanity instead of attacking them, we could have stopped it long ago. So, once the array fired, the surviving Forerunners left for uncharted space in self-imposed exile known as the Great Journey to live a more primitive life out of the way of the rest of the galaxy. It may be that some survived in shield world such as I did and are still in hyper sleep chambers but...that remains to be seen."

"At the risk of sounding rude, why didn't you go with the other Forerunners?" a Reporter worked up the courage to ask.

"It was known the Flood came from outside our galaxy, and while we hope those that grew up in our absence would be able to stop them, some of us felt it best to find a cure." Dawn explained. "A Builder Embracing-Darkness-Of-Night and I went to 56-B to work on a possible cure. I worked on a genetic cure working with human DNA and several native creatures of Erde-Tyrene, what the UNSC now calls Earth, to create hybrids capable of resisting an infection form's attack with only marginal success around 500 cycles ago. Darkness however...his work..." She seemed uncomfortable. "He was always odd. Every 100 to 1000 years of hyper sleep to see how our experiments grew he became...different. Then 1000 years ago, he found a strange energy signature form a world that was never inhabited before. In fact, it was on no star charts. The Humans, the Forerunners even the Flood never found this world before. But that energy blast seemed to remove whatever shrouded this world from sensors and on it...he found something. I don't know much about what he found, only seeing the black liquid he brought back once. He became obsessed with it, trying to fuse it with flood forms in storage to create a Flood army he could control yet was unable to infect organics. He attacked me one day and I was forced to remain in stasis while I healed. In his time alone...Darkness got carless and unleashed the flood in containment and our shield world was overrun despite Defiance and his Prometheans best efforts. All seemed lost...until the UNSC appeared." Defiance's holo-emitter showed footage of the _Hornet_ coming out of slipspace inside the shield world, the CAS on its tail. Then it moved onto the UNSC and Promethean's defense of the drydock, the human soldiers holding back the horde with mechs and missiles, tanks and fighters. Finally, it Showed the battle against the infected CAS as its overpowered energy beam cut into the Punic, before Curtis and the _Winter_ launched and encountered the Gravemind Darkness before launching a powerful missile into his gullet and escaping before detonation. Last it showed the damaged _Hornet_ reappearing in the space above Remnant, finally explaining how the UNSC got to their home. It was a blind jump, pure accident.

Curtis took back the stage. "I told you, no secrets." Curtis said to the crowd. "And thus, we hold none that shouldn't be held. An unknown history revealed and if you paid close attention...you may have figured out why the Covenant are at war with us. Defiance calls us 'Reclaimers' for a reason. The Forerunners left gene seeds with our DNA, they allow us to work their technology, we are to 'reclaim' what was left behind, a way of making sure what we lost we regained, and the Covenant, who believe the Forerunners choose them as their inheritors what to go on their Great Journey."

Ozpin's and many others who pieced it together looked horrified. "But that would mean..."

"They want to activate the Halo array again, not knowing its true purpose." Curtis confirmed. "And it's up to us to stop them."

"Wait a minute!" A Young blonde woman in the crowd spoke up. "If those things fire the whole galaxy goes with them, shouldn't we also be the one to help stop them? Our world is in danger too!" Many definitely agree with her, voicing their concerns.

Curtis sighed. "What is your name?" He asked the woman.

"Yang Xiao Long." She replied.

"Are you a UNSC citizen?" He asked.

"No."

"Is Remnant a UNSC Colony?" He asked again.

"Pretty sure it's not." She replied.

"Then how could I have the right to ask anyone here to come and fight against the Covenant?" Curtis asked, "As far as we know, the Covenant has little to no knowledge of this world with only an old crashed dropship found on Menagerie stating otherwise and even then, it was a very old dropship. How can I put Remnant at risk of Covenant invasion in a war that you have little reason to be in. If the Covenant does activate a Halo, chances are Remnant will be outside of its range and only the UNSC and the Covenant will be wiped out. It's not a guarantee but it's not impossible either. There are families here. People who live happy lives without worrying if an alien battlecruiser will show up overhead and turn the planet to glass. I have asked for aid from the communities who we helped, but none of them were asked to fight with us. The ships above us? They are going to help us pilot them back to Earth and then if they wish to stay and fight, they will but if they don't...then a ship will bring them back here. The UNSC has been in this fight for 30 years and we have lost a lot. I don't want to bring that pain to your world. Once our ship, UNSC _Eternity_ our supercarrier made form the hull of the _Hornet_ is complete...we will leave. We will head back to Earth to defend _our_ home and hopefully usher in a new tomorrow free form the Covenant's grasp."

The crowd seemed to come alive at this information, with many realizing that the UNSC is right to keep them safe form the Covenant, but at the same time, many wishing to stop them if the UNSC fails to keep them away from the array. Curtis watched this and wondered if it would have been better to keep the array a secret. " _No_ " Curtis thought to himself. " _Too many problems come from withholding valuable information, and these people deserve the right to know...and the right to choose_ "

Curtis was pulled out of his thoughts by footsteps on stage. He turned to see General Ironwood and a few escorting troops. Every UNSC and Atlas soldier suddenly became very tense as the two military leaders met. Safeties were undone, plasma rifles charges, Tank shells loaded and Prometheans, Sentinels and AK-130s alert and Atlesian Battlecruisers warmed up their laser batteries as UNSC MAC guns were spun up. Ozpin and many in the crowd held their breath as they thought a second great war was about to begin.

"Commander Fletcher." Ironwood began as he addressed Curtis. "I understand your concerned, hell I would do the same in your situation, but after all you have told us. I cannot in any capacity allow the UNSC to be expected to defend both its space and Remnant's from the Covenant. However, I am well aware we don't have any capacity to travel the stars as you do and ask if you would be willing to accept volunteers form the Atlas Military."

Curtis blinked in surprise at Ironwood's offer. "You know there is no guarantee we will come back."

"All soldiers know this." Ironwood said

"The Covenant is not like the Grimm, they have A LOT of heavy plasma weaponry, so you can see as we have a few captured Covenant weapons and vehicles." Curtis explained gesturing over to a group of Wraith hove tanks.

"Even better, we can study how they work so we know what to be up against." Ironwood stated.

"Nothing I say is gonna get you to change your mind, is there?" Curtis asked.

Ironwood sighed. "I just learned of a group of humans has been fighting a war for their right to exist in the galaxy against aliens who are looking for an ancient superweapon, and you expect me to just sit here and worry about it? No. I intend to do something about it."

Curtis just smirked. "Spoken like a true soldier." He held out his hand. "The UNSC is always happy to receive a helping hand."

Ironwood shook his hand before looking out at the crowd. "I don't think we will be you last volunteers."

Curtis looked out over the crowd at more than a few faces who looked eager to help protect their world, no, the galaxy from the Covenant. Other than wondering if New Harvest was built up enough to handle a population boom, he smiled now knowing that Remnant was going to come to Earth's aid. He just hoped they would get there in time.

* * *

 **Halo is owned by Bungie 343 Industries and Microsoft.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**

 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**

 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend. I own nothing but the original Characters.**


	21. Of Hardlight and Darkness

**Chapter 16**

 **Of Hardlight and Darkness**

Captain's Ready Room, UNSC Eternity,New Harvest, August 19, 2554

Curtis sat back in the now finished ready room of the almost complete _Eternity_ looking over new reports coming in. It had been over a month and a half since New Harvest and the UNSC had revealed itself to Remnant and the local news stations _still_ had not shut up about it yet. From talks about Kingdoms getting their own Space Tethers, to rumors of the UNSC being actual aliens in human suits, to even the whole thing being a hoax put on by Atlas.

Thankfully, most of Remnant saw the UNSC for what it was, a group of people fighting to save their world, and in turn protect Remnant as well. Protecting Remnant had become infinitely smoother with the kingdom's cooperation, especially Atlas who, along with a now fully revitalized Mantle had become their biggest allies on the planet. While Mantle set about designing new UNSC ships and weapons, with a few unique creations of their own thrown in, Atlas had begun to aid in the creation of Remnant's Orbital defense network.

Curtis already had high orbit Sentinel factories pumping out Constructors, assemblers and Retrievers to create _Moncton_ -class orbital weapon platforms in geosynchronous orbit over Remnant and now had Atlas to help in operating said platforms. This plus the fact the UNSC, Atlas and even the Cylon Collective, who now thanks to their more biological forms now had a very good reason to fear the Halo array, were working on new ships and technologies.

The UNSC was pulling out old experimental designs like the _Actium_ class Super Heavy Frigates and _Nevada_ class Heavy Frigates and its variants and even _Noryang_ class heavy carriers, which were just a variant of the _Epoch_ class first seen with the UNSC _Noryang_ and UNSC _Atlas_ back in 2523. The _Nevada_ s were going to be a co opted program with Atlas to see what Remnant technology could be used to enhance the UNSC ships as well as get the Atlas Navy used to both Slipspace and fighting in Exo-atmospheric environments. Mantle's primary arms producer, Morita Industries, had begun creating weapons designed for combating heavy armored or shielded targets such as the Mk I Rifle, which while large, had a high fire rate and chambered the same round as the UNSC's MA series of assault rifles, the Mk II SAW and more while Atlas's own company, NeoVenus Construction, which aided in their creation of weapons and new technology along with confusing UNSC personnel with another Earth based name found on Remnant, began to see about improving Atlesian energy weapons and designing their own brand of starships that would make sure they didn't rely fully on the UNSC for interstellar travel along with taking the advice form the UNSC to expand their armor and air wings in versatility.

Curtis leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. While things were going well, it had also given him an influx of reports to read and sign along with more work leaving him quite tired with the mind-numbing paperwork, even if it would all lead to a UNSC Victory over the Covenant.

He sat up and picked up another data pad with some new reports. "This is why I refuse to become an admiral." Curtis said to himself as he went over the report. As he did, his door chimed. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Solara who had a big grin on her face as always. She was wearing standard fatigue pants and a black T-shirt that had the emblem of the UNSC _Poseidon's Trident_ on the chest and she brought in two cups of coffee.

"Though you could use a pick-me-up." Solara said, offering him one of the cups.

Curtis smiled and took the offered cup. "Thanks Solara." He said as he took a sip. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Oh, just helping Valkyr with some subroutines for the _Eternity_ 's weapon systems." She explained, taking he own sip of her coffee, a large grin splitting her face as she did so. "I will never get used to that."

"Get used to what?" Curtis asked, quite confused.

"Taste!" Solara exclaimed with a toothy grin. "Sensation! It's just so...amazing! To realize how muted my senses were as a pure AI...and now this! It's almost euphoric."

Curtis smiled and set down his cup before standing up and giving the AI a hug. "You help us out through thick and thin, Solara." Curtis told her. "I think you deserve this as a reward." Solara blushed but hugged him back. "You got your whole new life ahead of you now."

"Ya, I do." Solara said, looking down. "I... actually don't know what to do if I decide to leave the military after the war."

Curtis ruffled her hair up a bit. "We will cross that bridge when we get to it." He told her. "First we save Earth and stop the Covenant, then we look up retirement plans."

"Hey! I am not that old!" Solara said, pouting at him. "I just don't know what to do as this...AI hybrid. I mean if I need to, I can break off a fragment to operate a ship, but what does that leave my physical self?"

Curtis thought about it. "Why not help on the ground alongside us?" Curtis suggested. "You always say you would be a better shot if you had real hands. Well, now you can prove it."

Solara looked down at her hands and thought about it. Curtis did too and noticed something new about her. Her skin seemed to have a faint golden tone to it, and he could see data streams flowing under her skin like her old avatar did. Solara noticed his staring.

"Oh!" Solara said, somewhat embarrassed "Noticed the new upgrades?"

"Upgrades?" Curtis asked.

"Ya, me and Caprica found new ways to incorporate our AI nature into our bodies, while still keeping them semi-organic." Solara explained. "We used some techniques used in the old Orion and later Spartan augmentation process to allow for our biology to mesh easier with the nanotech we added in. Cylons and UNSC AI however have telltale differences however."

"Like what for example?" Curtis asked as he watched streams of data flow down her hair, still finding it very surreal.

"Well UNSC avatars are usually seen with data flowing down our forms, no matter the form we pick as an avatar." Solara explained. "That along with our chosen color often carries over to our human forms. I still have a faint golden glow, just like Valkyr glows silver and Charon and Kalmiya glow crimson. Valkyr, with Defiance's help, even gave herself small hardlight emitters so she can have physical version of the helmet, braces and boots her avatar had."

Curtis laughed slightly as he tried to imagine Valkyr with the silver hardlight helmet on the bridge of _Eternity_ trying to act serious and failing. "Ok, well that seems more like personal preference, than an innate difference." He said.

"Cylons main give away is their eyes and back." Solara continued. "When blinking, a Cylon's iris will flash red and will stay red if they use a built-in function, like switch to inferred vision or zoom in on a faraway target. They also, or so I have been told, give themselves away as any very...active event that sends a lot of neurological information to the brain, like a serious injury...or intense pleasure," She gave him a sultry smile "their spines light up and are visible through their skin."

Curtis blinked. "Ok, that's something." He said. "I noticed you never brought up the Atlas AIs or the Prometheans."

"That's kinda were we hit a problem." Solara said. "While Cylons are technically Dumb AIs, they have evolved enough to have matrices similar enough a Smart AI which is how they originally were able to make almost fully human bodies. But Atlas AI are fully dumb with little sentience. They can't work one of these bodies."

"And the Prometheans?" Curtis asked. "They are Forerunner ancilla, and while I don't expect you to convert Sentinels and Crawlers, the Armiger Soldiers and Knights must be able to be given a choice, can't they?"

"The Soldiers have expressed no want to become semi-biological...but the Knights...are a different story." Solara said. "You know how they were made, right?"

Curtis's face became very serious. "Unfortunately, I do." He walked over to the window. "The Ur-Didact, the leader of the Promethean Warrior servants and the Forerunner Military used a device called the Composer to turn his own troops and later, Humanity into the Knights."

Solara nodded. "The composer doesn't make normal AIs. They are not compatible."

"So, their trapped as Knights then?" Curtis asked.

"Not necessarily true." Solara added as Curtis turned back to her. "Dawn, Angela and Miranda have been...working on something to help reverse the process."

"I have a distinct feeling I am not going to like this _something_." Curtis said, as he crossed his arms.

"They made a mini-composer." Solara blurred out.

"They WHAT?!" Curtis shouted.

"Woah! Calm down!" Solara said. "It's a sort of...Anti-composer they made to reverse the Composer's effect."

Curtis took a deep breath. "Why was I not informed about this?" He asked.

Solara picked up a Data pad form his desk. "Looks like you were."

Curtis took the pad and read it. It was the same pad he had put down before Solara came in. He sighed. "I need a break after all this nonsense."

"It can't be that bad." Solara said. "It just some paper work!"

"No, the paperwork is just boring." Curtis corrected her. "And it's also not what has me worried and stressed."

"Ok." She sat on his desk, looking at him for him to explain. "Then what does have you stressed?"

Curtis sighed and sat back down on his chair. "Atlas." Curtis explained. "One of the general's to be specific."

"It's not Ironwood, is it?" Solara asked.

"No, Ironwood has been very helpful." Curtis said, taking a sip of his still warm coffee to calm his nerves. "Though being given the technology to make starships has that effect on people. No, I am talking about General Meridian."

"What did he do this time?" Solara asked. She knew who Meridian was, he was at the unveiling ceremony after all and was one of the UNSC's few critics on Remnant, if not the only major one.

Curtis leaned back. "Well, that's a bit of a story in and of itself."

"I have nowhere to be right now." Solara said

Curtis rolled his eyes with a small smile. Solara never changed. "Fine. I'll tell you. It started just after the reveal..."

[Headmaster's Office, Beacon Academy, Vale, June 27, 2554]

Curtis looked out from the green tinted window past the gears of the room at the city below, watching as the people of Remnant conversed with UNSC personnel and Promethean forces.

"Not the way I was hoping we would be announced." Curtis said. "But in light of the aftermath, I say this went better than expected."

"Expecting a worst-case scenario?" Ozpin said, as he took a sip of coffee form his mug.

"Kinda." Curtis admitted. "30 years of hell under the Covenant gave me a bit of a pessimistic worldview. I am hoping that will change once we start pushing them back."

"Agreed." Ironwood said. "But I have to ask, why did you call us up here?"

"Because, I have some information that I omitted form the speech I felt would cause a panic if known to non-military personal." Curtis explained. "I know I said there would be no secrets, but I rather not see how well my forces can hold back the Grimm flooding into Vale due to widespread panic."

"And showing off the Flood wouldn't do that same?" the snarky General Meridian said. "I mean, ancient alien space zombies? Really?"

"What? Do you want to come to a lab in New Harvest and study the few samples of Flood Biomass we have for proof?" Curtis asked, slightly upset with Meridian's tone.

"You brought samples of it to Remnant!?" Ironwood shouted.

"My chief medical officer wants to find if not a cure, but an immunity or defense and no flood forms were taken, only samples of inert biomass." Curtis explained. "The facility is underground and is guarded by Aggressor Sentinels and Hellbringer Troopers. Only one way in and out."

Ozpin lean forward. "I'll take you on your word, but I am not a fan of this...flood, in any form being on our world."

"I understand, believe me I was against the idea at first." Curtis admitted. "But knowing that most Halo Rings have Flood containment facilities...I need to know what I am up against. The Battle of 56-B showed us a glimpse, but something tells me whatever allowed Darkness to have his consciousness be center stage in the Gravemind affected the Flood so that while they were in the coordinated stage...they didn't act like they were."

"You think he was successful in his experiments." Ozpin deduced.

"I do." Curtis said. "But that problem died with him, though I do hope to find whatever planet this 'black liquid' he found came from. More than likely it still has his twisted legacy on it."

Ozpin was deep in thought. " _Black liquid? It couldn't be...no Dawn said over 1000 years ago. But then again, that world's year could be longer than Remnant's. If it was 2000 years ago...yes. That would be just around the right time._ "

Ironwood spoke up. "The Flood, while a problem we will have to deal with, is at least one contained for the foreseeable future, and I assume not what you brought us here form."

"No, it's not." Curtis said as he places his own scroll on Ozpin's desk, activating the room's holo-projector. An image of the Galaxy appeared. Curtis pointed to one section of the galaxy. "UNSC Territory is right here." The area he pointed to flashed blue and encompassed what seemed to be a small section of the Orion arm. "And this is where we assume Covenant Controlled space to be." Another section further on the Orion Arm flashed purple. "If we zoom in more on the space between, here, closer to UNSC Controlled Space, we have our new allies the Cylon's Colony and the space they control." A small area near the UNSC border flashed silver, with a binary star system and 60 lightyears around it specifically left out. "And finally, we Have Remnant, sitting right here, in the void between UNSC, Covenant and Cylon space." Remnant's star system flashed red, the red dot seeming so small compared to the other systems.

"While knowing we are uncomfortably close to Covenant Space gives us some perspective, I don't see why this constitutes an emergency." Meridian said dismissively.

"The emergency is this." Curtis said as 7 green flashes appeared in the screen, each a dot in 7 different locations around the galaxy.

"Is that?" Ozpin asked before he stopped himself.

Curtis nodded, knowing what he was going to ask. "This...is the exact location of all 7 Halo rings."

Ironwood's eyes widen as he looked at Installation 07. "That ring is VERY close to Covenant space."

"Yes, it is." Curtis admitted. "But the Covenant are not expanding up the Orion arm, they are expanding down, toward us. That gets 07 out of their reach for now... but," He point at UNSC Space at a system very close to Reach. The Soell system, home to Installation 04. "But after Reach fell, it may only be by pure luck, but they have not found 04 which is VERY close to the heart of the UNSC and its fire radius covers UNSC, Remnant, Cylon and Covenant space."

"So, you bumbling buffoons didn't even notice the superweapon on your own damn doorstep!?" Meridian shouted.

"Ok, what is your problem?!" Curtis shouted back. "I am trying to help both of our planets, yet you seem incapable of getting your head out of your ass and listening!"

"I don't NEED to listen to some young upstart!" Meridian said with a sneer. "How do we even know this, 'Halo Array' is even real!? You never _leave_ Remnant! How could this Galaxy-destroying super weapon slip past an advance civilization when it was so close to their own home world!?"

"I don't know!" Curtis shouted back. "Reach was colonized centuries before I was born, how the fuck am I supposed to know how they missed Soell!?"

"General Meridian, Stand down!" Ironwood shouted at the younger General.

"No!" Meridian said, standing up to Ironwood. "You are too accepting of this, _General_ Ironwood! This UNSC could be a damn lie, a trap! And you are just blindly walking into it!"

"And of what evidence has this batshit crazy assumption come form, Meridian?!" Ironwood shouted back. "They have been NOTHING but helpful, while you have been nothing but a pain in my ass! Its only because of your family ties that you even HOLD the rank of General, but do not for one moment, assume you have earned that rank and can bark orders at me!"

Meridian scowled at Ironwood, his face red with anger. He turned and stormed out with a huff the elevator doors closing behind him. Before he left, Curtis looked into his eyes as he turned around in the elevator. They were so filled with rage, it gave Curtis a feeling in his gut that Chriss Meridian wasn't going to go quietly into the night.

[Captain's Ready Room, UNSC _Eternity_ ,New Harvest, August 19, 2554]

"Wow." Was all Solara could say. She was honestly shocked at how arrogant Meridian was. "You think he will try and sabotage Atlas and the UNSC?"

"I _know_ he will." Curtis corrected. "I just don't know when."

Solara stood up from his desk and gave him a slight comforting hug. "Hey, we have dealt with aliens and Insurrectionists." She told him "We can handle one upstart General."

"I am worried he could turn the people against us." Curtis admitted, leaning into her hug.

Solara laughed. "If you really think this asshole can convince anyone that hasn't been brainwashed that he is in the right, your faith in Remnant must be really low."

"Hey!" Curtis retorted as Solara just smiled at him. "I have faith."

"Then don't worry so much!" Solara said, moving to sit in his lap. "Things will turn out fine!"

"Ok, ok." Curtis relented. "I'll relax." Solara smiled in victory. "Thanks Solara."

"No thanks necessary!" Solara said. "You just have too much on your mind, so I helped lighten the load."

"Right." Curtis admitted. "Speaking of which, I have to get back to the reports." He tried to lean forward, only to find he was unable to with Solara using him as a seat cushion. "Umm, Solara? Can you get off my lap, please?"

"Nope!" Solara said, with a smirk.

"Solara, get off." Curtis said.

"Not happening!" The AI reaffirmed.

"Act your age!" Curtis demanded.

"I am under 5 years old!" Solara said with a devious smile. "You really want me to do that?"

Curtis groaned as Solara's teasing continued on for a while. Elsewhere on Remnant however, Curtis's fears were becoming reality.

[Salam's Castle, Land of Darkness, Unknown Location, August 19,2554]

A Lone Bullhead flew over the dark, barren wasteland, with rocky terrain and enormous purple crystals sprouting from the ground. The sky is stained a dark red. Grimm spawn in large numbers from pools of a viscous, tar-like substance below as the Bullhead flew to a large structure built in a huge crystal wall. The aircraft bearing the markings of the Atlesian Military, began to slow as it came in for a landing at the Cathedral styled building built in this 'No-Man's Land'.

As the craft landed, the side door opened, and two figures exited it. One was an older scientist that had a robotic left eye that glowed and ominous red and a similar robotic right arm. Next to him stood General Chriss Meridian. They both stepped off the transport Tilt-jet and entered the cathedral.

Past the main doors, a main greeted them. He was very tall and looked like he could take on a Deathstalker with his bare hands yet seemed quiet and intelligent. Meridian stepped forward.

"Greetings." The atlas General began, "I assume you are the one who called us?"

"No." The man replied with a deep voice "She is inside. Come...it's better to not keep her waiting."

While feeling slightly insulted by this man's insinuations, the scientist he came with simply chuckled.

"Don't like having your authority challenged, Eh Chriss?" The older man laughed.

"Shut it, Merlot!" Meridian snapped back. "You are lucky you are even here, you mad man! I could have just thrown you out the airship!"

Merlot was about to retort when a voice cut through the air, its words like ice yet its tone soft and firm at the same time. "I don't think that would have been in your best interest, general."

The two new arrivals turned to see who spoke. They stood within a large council chamber within the cathedral and at the end of the large crystal made table, sat a woman with deathly white skin, black veins and grimm red eyes.

Meridian would never admit it...but she terrified him, and all she had done so far was speak. Everything about her just screamed that she was something that shouldn't exist, yet despite all rational, she did.

The General summoned his courage, or what little he had. "So, you are the one who summoned us? I'll admit your letter was...vague."

The woman smiled slightly. "I suppose it was." She admitted. "But that was just to peak your interest into coming. I have an offer you two cannot refuse."

Merlot was busy looking out the windows at Nevermore that flew past, seeming guarding the building, not attacking. "We cannot because it is too good to do so, or that you will feed us to the Grimm outside?" Merlot asked as Meridian looked at him.

"You old fool, no one can control the Grimm." Meridian said as Merlot scoffed

The woman laughed. "Perceptive. I like that, but no. If you say no, I will let you leave safely. But I feel you wouldn't want to miss out on the offer I have to give you."

Meridian looked impatient "And what would that be?"

"For you dear General, how about the destruction of the UNSC and the gaining of their technology for Atlas and Atlas alone?" The woman asked as Meridian blinked.

"There is no way you could come through on that deal!" Meridian shot back. The woman was unmoved.

"Is that so?" She asked as she got up. "Follow me then." She seemed to...glide across the floor rather than walk. Merlot and Meridian followed her, the latter reluctantly and the former with curiosity.

The mysterious woman lead them to a stairwell down under the mountain on which her cathedral sat into a massive chamber. Meridian and Merlots eyes widened as they saw what sat in the chamber before them. It sat on three massive legs and had a pyramid like structure. Its silver metal hull shone in the light of the torches that surrounded it.

"W-What is that!?" Meridian asked.

The woman smiled. "That my dear General, is the _Ecumene's Will_. A Forerunner Keyship."

"Forerunner!? Those aliens that gave the UNSC their technology!?" Merlot asked, surprised and eager to tear into the ship for all its secrets.

"The very same." The women said, turning to face Meridian. "So... believe me now?

Meridian nodded silently. "What would you have me do, to gain the power to destroy the UNSC, Ma'am?"

The women, known only as Salem to those who knew her, smiled. She lost Tyrian and Cinder but gained two new allies who may prove much more useful. She looked back over the ancient keyship and began to think of just how she could use them to crush the United Nations Space Command, maybe even the Covenant as well if she played her cards right.

Salem turned to Meridian with a smile "Tell me Meridian, what do you know...about the _Halo array_?

* * *

 **I had been asked to add a few Fanon ships in. I was hesitant but i figured, what the hell.**  
 **The _Actium class, Nevada class,_ and _Noryang class_ belong to their respective owners**

 **Sorry this chapter came out a bit late.**

 **Halo is owned Bungie by 343 Industries**  
 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**  
 **Starcraft is owned by Blizzard Entertainment**  
 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**  
 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**  
 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**  
 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend.**


	22. The First step into Madness

**Chapter 17**

 **The First step into Madness**

Actium class Super Heavy Frigate UNSC _Wichita,_ Abandoned city of Mountain Glenn, Sanus, September 25,2554, 10:30am

Curtis stepped onto the bridge of the brand new Super heavy Frigate of his ever-growing fleet. While he was not in direct command, he was here to oversee the first official war-games between his UNSC Navy, the new United Remnant Combined Fleet or URCF and the Cylon Collective Navy. The battle was a mixed between Naval, Aerospace and Terrestrial combat over the abandoned city of Mountain Glenn near Vale. The UNSC brought 3 ships, the Actium class Super heavy frigate _Wichita_ and two Charon class assault frigates Mantle controlled UNSC _Tripoli_ and Menagerie controlled UNSC _Somerset_. The URCF had 4 ships, all of them UNSC designs as no new Remnant design ships had been completed as of yet. The lead ship was the Nevada class Heavy Frigate URCF _Solitas_ belonging to Atlas and Mantle, the ship painted in the white and black of the Atlesian Navy and had been built by Constructor and Assembler sentinels under Mantle's control. The Ship was manned by Atlas military and Mantle born UNSC personnel. Next was the Nevada class URCF _Anima_ belonging to Mistral and bearing the navy and ice blue of Mistral's colors on its hull and was maned by Mistral Army personnel and Menageriean UNSC personnel. Next was the El Salvador-class assault frigate URCF _Vytal_ belonging to Vale, wearing the forest green of the former Royal Valerian Army and ironically being a part of the ship's original UNSC paint scheme as the ship was a ground support vessel. Last as the Stalwart class URCF _Sanus_ operated by Vacuo Militia in the desert style beige camouflage color scheme similar to what was used by Militaries on earth in the Early 21st century. The Last ship involved belonged to the Cylons who brought only one small ship, the CFS _Elysium_. However, it was small by Cylon fleet sizes so were as the others had brought Frigate weight ships, the IElysium/i was a Valkyrie class Light Battlestar. Granted the ship was 649 meters long were as the Nevada was 604 meters long, so it was still an accepted addition, especially since the Cylon's were confident in the new Railgun batteries replacing the old Heavy cannons and their own brand-new Mk VI Vipers integrating Cylon and UNSC technology with colonial designs. The Battlestar lacked shields but had a trick by running a current through its armor to make it stronger. It was a stop gap until they got shield technology working properly.

With all 3 groups ready at different sections of the old city turned firefight town, a trio of flares was launched form the city center, an old park, announcing the start of the battle. Immediately all 4 sides began to launch fighters, the _Elysium_ showing off in this regard as it launched 40 fighters, 20 form each flight pod plus 4 Assault Raptors and 5 Advanced Stealthstars. The URCF also showed off its fighters with _Solitas_ launching F-41E Broadsword Strike Fighters, _Vytal_ launching YSS-1000 Sabers and _Anima_ launching C712 GA-TL1 Longswords with the _Sanus_ deploying older C709 Longswords. However, this led to only 12 Broadswords, 12 Sabers, and 6 C712 Longswords while the Vacuoans somehow got 14 C709 Longswords in their ship which in total gave them 44 fighters, though the C709s were more Interceptors and Ground Attack aircraft than full on fighters. For the UNSC however, Curtis had replaced the 10 or so D77 pelicans the _Wichita_ would normally carry for 20 YSS-2000 Katana Strike Fighters. This was compounded by replacing the 4 Longswords each Charon could carry with 8 Broadswords on the _Tripoli_ and 8 Sabers on the _Somerset_ which while it gave the UNSC only 36 fighters, they were all shielded and high performance and in the hands of those who either flew them in combat before or ran many simulations before this battle.

Ground troops were deployed on all sides. The Cylons landed with 14 T-35 Pallas class Main Battle tanks, which the UNSC described as a widened 21st Century American M1A2 Abrams Body with a widened German Tiger 1 Turret with one 203mm cannon that used an autoloader and 4 TOW Missiles. The tank was of Colonial design and the 203mm cannon was replaced with a 203mm railgun as the 203mm heavy cannon was inefficient and slow. They also had 20 M113 Hoplite Light Armored Vehicle, which looked like a up armored 21st century U.S Army Humvee with a 25mm machine cannon with high explosive bullets the Colonials used on the Cylons old metal forms which was remarked as a "Fully auto mini grenade launcher". They landed a full company of Biological Cylon Marines about 120 troops led by an older Model Five of the original 8 models that began to spread out into strategic positions.

The URCF was a bit more unorthodox as only Atlas had a true standing military and even then, only brought a platoon of 45. However, this was 45 of their Specialists or huntsman solders or as the UNSC called them "Remnant's Spartans", even if most agreed a Spartan II or III would probably beat one in a fight. This was added upon by other Kingdom loyal huntsman from Vale, Vacuo and Mistral making up an 80-man company led by Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee and Beacon Academy Professor Glynda Goodwitch. They were supported by 10 NeoVenus GAB-25M Cakti Vital Suit Tanks, an intended replacement for the older Atlesian Aracnoid-190 Spider droid and it was the start of the URCF's own independent mechanized ground forces separate from the UNSC's current selection. The walker tank had one 120mm Cannon with dust infused shells and one tri-barreled pulse laser Vulcan anti-infantry weapon and a pair of drill for bashing through difficult terrain. The tank could switch between a fast-moving tread vehicle of a 4-legged walker like its predecessor. They were backed up by 5 Advanced Atlesian PTX-140 Vital Suit mechs, a Platoon of 25 Atlesian Regular solders. Finally, they had a 15 Mantle made Light Armored Personnel Carrier a vehicle which took inspiration from both the Cylons M113 Hoplite and the UNSC's M12 LAV Warthog, the MRV-28 Ground Operations, Reconnaissance, Intercept, Logistics and Light Armor or Gorilla. Armed with a 13mm cannon that could be operated form inside and having great ground clearance and high speed, it was clear Mantle was trying to usurp the Warthog's role. The troops and their vehicles started into the abandoned city to find the other two sides.

Now he UNSC decided to show off in the ground forces category by deploying two ODST fireteams, each with 4 new but highly trained ODSTs, one lead by Lieutenant Commander Allison Forge and the other lead by Chief Warrant Officer Stacy Williams and they were followed by 2 full companies, each 150 troops, and each Company brought a Platoon of tanks. 4 M808B Scorpions and 1 M808S Lockdown Scorpion form the _Tripoli_ under Stacy's command and 5 M850 Grizzlies under Allison's. The Companies also had a 20 Standard 2554 M12 LRV Warthogs, 15 M12G1 Gauss Hogs and 7 M12R Rocket Hogs. Allison opted for one specialty vehicle in the form of a modified M12G1 Gauss Hog in the style the one her father told her about. It had an enclosed cabin and armor plating over the windscreen necessitating a HUD and camera to see out of it, extra armor, a ram and fog lights, an improved turret shield for the cannon and 2 clusters of smoke grenade launchers on either side of the hood, 5 in each cluster.

The teams set off into the firefight town, all weapon equipped with a holo-generator, so no live ammunition was used. In the air, the Cylons went on the offensive first, the 20 anti-ship railguns and 33 dual purpose coilguns of the _Elysium_ unloaded their high velocity projectiles at the UNSC fleet first, recognizing them as the bigger threat and began to maneuver to avoid any ship lining up its MAC cannon while its Raptors began a harassment campaign on the URCF fleet. The heavy projectiles slammed into the shields of the I Wichita/i which returned fire with its 11A2R1 naval coilgun batteries and Mark 33 Spitfire coilguns, which began to make the Light Battlestar regret its choice as the unshielded ship, while dropping the Super Heavy Frigate's shields, was taking main hull damage as the heavy coilguns barked out their deadly report. While the IElysium/i and IWichita/i pounded each other, the _Sanus_ and _Anima_ move forward to deal with the two Charons. Both UNSC crews smiled at this for while the Nevada was better shielded and have thick armor, the Charons out turned it easily. The _Tripoli_ and _Somerset_ soared over the larger warship, its 50mm and 150mm Ramparts blazing away at them in vein. Their success was however cut short as waves of Archer missiles began to bombard them, their own ramparts now blazing to shoot them down as while a Charon can out turn a Nevada, a Stalwart was smaller than a Charon and thus out turned it. The _Sanus_ 's missile pods cut loose a devastating stream of missiles at the Assault Frigates forcing them to break off their push as the _Sanus_ 's attack gave the _Anima_ time to reoriented itself and bring its own Archers into play. Both UNSC frigate dove into the city, squeezing past old abandoned skyscrapers for cover from the URCF ships. As this happened, URCF _Solitas_ moved up to try and take out the _Elysium_ and I Wichita/i as the two had been battering each other for a while now, the heavy cross bracing and thick double hull of the Battlestar and the energy shields and Titanium A3-Nanolaminate Battle plating of the Actium Super Heavy Frigate making them both unmovable objects as the _Solitas_ took aim with its Atlas made A121 Heavy High Density Laser turrets. It had 8 turrets, with two lasers per turret similar to the Ramparts a Nevada would normally have. Crimson beams lashed out at both ships with lethal accuracy, though the _Wichita_ took the hits well, having been designed to withstand Covenant plasma and then upgraded by the Remnant UNSC Garrison, while the _Elysium_ faltered. Colonial ships were not made to take on energy weapons and even after the upgrades the new Biological Cylon race had made, it still was not up to scratch.

[ Cylon Collective Battlestar _Elysium_ , CIC]

The Commander of the ship, a Model Eight known as Shannon Rodgers, looked upset as she watched a bright red message flash across the Battlestar's view screens. "DAMAGE CRITICAL", Displayed in bright red lettering, that told her the _Elysium_ was now out of the fight. Many of her officers were not too happy of their ship's performance against energy weapons for the first time, showing them that better armor and shields would be a high priority for the later ships of the line.

Shannon sighed "All weapons stand down." She ordered her crew. "Move us out of the engagement zone and broadcast the 'Shot down' signal until we are clear of the battlezone. We will upgrade _Elysium_ and next time, we will get them. For now, it's up to our Fighters and troops on the ground."

"I wonder how the UNSC will react to our use of Anti-Cylon rounds?" One of her officers asked with a smirk. Shannon couldn't help but agree as she knew what she was referring to. The Colonials had made an explosive round to deal with the Cylons old Metal centurion bodies that could be fired form everything from Assault rifles to machine cannons. Even some pistols could fire the round. The explosive carried ¼ the explosive energy of a grenade and was quite effective against the centurions of old. As the Battlestar left the city, Shannon wondered what the UNSC would think of it.

[Downtown Mountain Glenn, 42nd Street]

"Fucking cylons with fucking explosive bullets bullshit!" was all that came from a Private First class Jaune Arc as he and one of the ODST fireteams was pinned down by a Cylon Fireteam at a street junction. The Cylon troops looked like that just came from Earth's Cold War back in the 1980s with how their weapons and armor looked by that little fact was lost under the hail of explosions those rifles let loose. Even worse was they had a Hoplite with them and the 25mm chaingun was proving its worth by making the UNSC troops life hell.

"Quit your complaining" Arc looked up to see an ODST standing over him in the new ODST SPI armor. The visor de-polarized to reveal Stacy Williams glaring back at him. "You're a marine, not some damn Innie who gives up after a bit of artillery shelling."

"Sorry ma'am" Arc apologized. "But how the hell are we getting through that?!" He vaguely gestured to the Humvee look alike around the corner "We don't have any rockets."

Stacy just smiled at him. "Got any Vortex Grenades?" She asked. The Vortex grenade was a new grenade which used Gravity dust to make a small but powerful gravity well. The Covenant had its own version with the Type 4 Gravity Grenades of which was used as a basis for the Vortex Grenade, but Vortexes were easier to make as Dust was very abundant on Remnant.

Jaune nodded and handed her two of his issued Vortex Grenades. "What's the plan?"

"Well if these were live grenades, I'd chuck them under the car and watch it crumple in on itself, but these babies still have their EMP effect." Stacy said with a smile as her visor re-polarized.

Jaune seemed to get what she was suggesting and followed her. They entered the building that made up most of the cover the UNSC troops were using to avoid the heavy chaingun. Some of the less experienced troops of the group tried to fire back and 3 got hit in the head by the hologram projectiles and their armor locked up.

"Ow." One of the downed marines complained. "Those holograms sting."

"Your dead, you're not supposes to talk to still 'living' UNSC troops." Stacy shot back over the radio. She turned back to Jaune. "How good is your throwing arm?"

"Umm, pretty decent." The PFC replied nervously.

"Good." Stacy said as she handed him a grenade. They two were crouched behind a wall, the APC right in its lie of site in the road. Stacy looked at him. "On my mark, got it kid?" Jaune simple nodded, readying the grenade.

Outside form the Cylon Marines perspective, they were slowly getting the upper hand over the UNSC, thanks in no small part to the fact their assault rifle bullets were more like mini grenades. The squad leader stood next to the Hoplite APC and was about o over them to push up when something dropped by his feet. It was Jaune's Vortex grenade. Stacy's hand actually landed _under_ the APC. Both 'detonated' in this case, while the Explosive-Gravity dust core was removed, the EMP emitters were not. The blue pulse shut down the truck's engine and the few electronic in the chaingun that help regulate the heat so it could fire longer. Without it, the gun quickly seized up and the UNSC squad began to push up as Stacy and Jaune provided fire support from the building's interior. Soon the Cylon's were 'dead'.

"Is it too much to ask to be moved a bit?" One of the fallen troopers asked. The Cylon trooper had fallen at a funny angle and now had his face on his jeep grill as if he was making out with it and thanks to the Exoskeleton used in the suits now being locked up, he was stuck that way until the Wargame was over.

"Sorry." Stacy grinned. "I can't commune with the dead."

"Aw come on!" The trooper whined as Stacy's fireteam and the rest of Jaune's squad moved up the road.

"Isn't Mountain Glenn supposed to be Grimm infested?" Jaune asked, wondering why he had not seen one of the darkness incarnate beasts yet. "Is it safe to leave them here?"

"The Airforce and Army air units went nuts yesterday clearing out the Grimm for this event." One of Jaune's squadmates, Richard said. "If any survive, their armor is set to unlock if it detects and actual threat. But we went over this place with a fine-tooth comb. Nothing here but baby Nevermores so small they wouldn't be a threat."

Jaune sigh in relief. "That good to hear." He said looked up as a squadron of Vacuoan Longswords were being harassed by a squad of Vipers. "Looks like this event is going smoothly then." He received a quick smack to the back of the head from Stacy.

"Don't say shit like that!" She told him. "You ever heard of the saying: Anything that can go wrong, will?"

Richard spoke up. "Oh, come on. What going to happen here?"

As if tempted by the Murphy himself, fate decided to answer that question. The squad's radios come to life, but it's not a UNSC officer on the other end.

"This is Specialist Winter Schnee to all current personnel in Mountain Glenn" Came over the radio.

"Specialist Schnee, open comms is only to be used in the event of an emergency." Came the response from the Battlestar _Elysium_ which had left the match. "Are you calling in a **Broken Shield** scenario?" **Broken shield** was the code phrase for an actual danger was approaching, such as a revived Grimm horde coming to retake the city.

"Yes." Was her response as all personnel who had their armor locked down were released. The fallen squadmates form before and the Cylon patrol had soon caught up with Stacy group, the one troops who had fallen against the jeep looked particularly unhappy.

"This is Rear Admiral Ericka Steel of the URCF _Solitas_ " Admiral Steele came over the radio. "What is the threat, solider?"

"I am seeing 12 Unidentified heavy cruisers coming in from the south." Was Winter's reply. This one bit of information was quite shocking. Not only were NO warships supposed to just join in the wargames aside from what was already present, but she said _**Unidentified**_. No class name or even nation it came from.

"This is Commander Fletcher of the UNSC _Wichita_ , we are picking up the ships now." Curtis announced over the comms. "They have an Atlas IFF."

"That would make them the new C-class Heavy Cruisers." Steele explained. "But none of those are even supposed to be under construction yet! The design wasn't finalized!"

"Tell them that!" Came the voice of Shannon as the _Elysium_ moved to intercept as the ships began to fly over the city. The Battlestar opened comms and hailed them. "Attention unidentified Atlesian ships." The Cylon Commander began. "This is Commander Shannon Rodgers of the Valkyrie class Battlestar _Elysium_. You are entering a firefight zone unauthorized. Reverse course immediately."

The 12 ships didn't respond and kept on their original heading. 1 Of the 12 however slowed to a stop and turned to the battlestar. At this distance, its designs became clear. It had a split bow like a UNSC Frigate but is body was narrower and it lacked the armored flanks of the UNSC ships. Instead, it has a cluster of 6 engines and 4 spires, similar to those on Atlesian Battlecruisers, one on the dorsal structure, behind the bridge, one on the ventral hull, and one on either side. Each acted as extra RCS thruster hard-points and Gravity dust capacitors. Each ship was painted in Black with red markings as opposed to Atlas's White with black markings. As the ship turned to _Elysium_ , the top shaft's prow began to glow a bright yellow, bolts of electricity sparking out of what seemed to be the barrel of a MAC Cannon.

[Battlestar _Elysium_ Command and Control Center]

"Ma'am!" The sensor officer yelled. "I am picking up high electrical energy within that ship's bow!"

"A Main spinal gun?" Shannon asked, worried that she was about to find out how well a Battlestar held up against a MAC cannon.

"Negative, no magnetic signatures detected." The offer responded before his eyes opened wide. "It's an electric dust cannon!"

No sooner was this said did the cannon fire. A beam of concentrated electricity the width of a D82- Darter, slammed into the ship. Consoles burned out, sparks flew and the might engines of the new battlestar died, with a flicker as the Valkyrie class ship fell backward due to the weight of its jump drive and engines pulling it down with no thrusters to support it. Cylon marines on the ground scattered as the ship slammed into the ground, crushing a semi-collapsed restaurant under its weight as its flight pods scrapped down along the sides of two apartment buildings as it came to a rest in the abandoned city, having been unable to even fire a warning shot at the now hostile vessel.

[Abandoned City of Mountain Glenn Warzone]

The URCF and UNSC forces watched in horror as the _Elysium_ crashed down into the city. Needless to say, the war games were over as the two fleets began to moved together in formation to fight back the new invaders.

The _Solitas_ opened a channel to the fleet. "This is Read Admiral Ericka Steele of the URCF _Solitas_ to unidentified Atlesian Fleet. Stand down! You are attacking friendly forces!"

To her surprise, she got a response. "Admiral Steele, this is Captain Jack Bellatose of the ANS _Iron Fist_. You are ordered to turn in your vessel to engage all UNSC and Cylon fleet assets, by order of the Lord General."

"Lord General?" Steele asked confused. "That rank hasn't been held by anyone since the great war! And the only person who could currently hold it is Ironwood and I have gotten no orders from him!"

"Ironwood has been removed as he stood in the way of Lord General Meridian." Bellatose told her. "Stand down and form up with us or YOU will be _removed_ as well."

"Traitorous bastards!" Steele cursed. "You think a few ships can gain you victory, you are sadly mistaken!"

"We know... we are just a scouting force." Bellatose said with a smirk to everyone's horror. "Also, you have made your intention's clear to stand with this traitorous URCF and the UNSC and their robot allies. Enjoy your stay in hell."

The connection cut off as the ship that attacked the battlestar along with its 11 brethren began to turn to the 7 ships of the URCF and UNSC. On the bridge of the _Wichita_ Curtis looked on with a feeling of both disbelief and utter fury.

"Tell our plane to turn around and engage and prepare the ships for combat!" he ordered his bridge crew. "I don't know how Meridian got so many ships up and running so fast and right now, I don't give a shit, I just want them sent BACK to the scrapyard they came form! Turn the ship around and begin an archer missile barrage!" The bridge was a flurry with activity as orders were sent out and the large super heavy frigate began to pivot around to face it's would be attackers. As it began to show its port-side, 30 of its 60 oversized M58 Archer missile pods opened up, streams of missiles enhanced with the mineral from Menagerie that increase the yield of the explosive tenfold. Each pod unleashed the 60-missiles held within toward the offending Rouge cruisers. 6 of the ships began to move to turn to shoe some of their broadsides as the pulse laser batteries, the former primary weapon on the Atlas battlecruiser now turned AA weapon, opened up, the crimson lances striking out at the swarms of missiles trying to shoot them down as the other 6 moves forward, letting their hardlight dust shields take the hits as they readied the Dust Cannon and began to launch an advanced dark grey and red painted version of the Atlas VTOL fighter out as the UNSC fighters along with the two Charons moved up alongside the Super Heavy Frigate. Soon all 30 Atlas fighters began to engage the 32 UNSC fighters as the ships slugged it out.

The Atlas fighters had twin light dust powered plasma cannons, that proved to be powerful enough to deal with UNSC fighters and their shields as a pair of them dove on a pair of broadswords, cutting into their shields and melting the wing of one and disabling the engine of another. They quickly found out however that the thicker ablative armor on a Longsword however allowed it to take the hits in stride as the URCF fleet began to move in to aid the UNSC, their own fighter joining the fray. 4 Atlas fighters ganged up on a Vacuoan C709 Longsword and began to tear into its shields and its armor. Its starboard side wing was full of melted thru holes and its engine was smoking, but it still flew. Two Katana's, one flown by Flight Lieutenant Rawley, the other by Captain Kara Thrace, came up behind them to assist.

"Damn traitors!" Sarah swore. "To damn arrogant to even notice us!"

"All the better." Starbuck grinned as she took aim with her advanced fighter's coilgun autocannons. Both fighters 30mm cannons unloaded magnetically accelerated round into each of the VTOL crafts engines caning them to spin out and often crash into one another. The flight leads managed to break off but that still left both pilots with 2 kills each a she 4 other ships plummeted to the ruins below.

Sarah nodded at her wingman before hailing the longsword. "Shade 1-1, this Midway. How's your bird?"

"Midway, this is Shade 1-1." The Longsword pilot responded. "We are alright over here but we can't get any more thrust out of the right-side engine."

"Roger that Shade 1-1." Sarah replied. "There is an old airport nearby, it could become useful for quick aircraft repairs. Try and make your way there, we can take care of these bastards."

The Longsword pilot and his Co-pilot gave a thumbs up before banks off toward the old airport in the city. Starbuck simple looked ahead as the _Wichita_ was hammered with crimson beams and dust cannons, the EMP effect of the lighting dust dropping its shields faster than a broadside of Covenant Plasma cannons, but the thick Titanium A3/Nano-laminate plating held under the assault as two cruisers went down. One form overwhelming missile fire, eventually penetrating its engine bay and detonating its reactor, the resulting explosion disabled the _Somerset_ which made a crash landing near the _Elysium_ and a second one which found the business end of the guns of both Atlas's and Vale's new Nevada and El Salvador class heavy frigate. The Advanced Heavy MAC of the _Solitas_ and the twin light coils of the _Vytal_ tore one of the cruisers, even with full shields to scrap, its broken hull raining on the ruins of the Vale expansion city below.

The cruiser began to launch their own missiles as the remaining Charon frigate Tripoli/i and the Stalwart URCF _Sanus_ as their crimson pulse lasers and their own high-density laser turrets bore down upon the frigate flotilla. Bright yellow lances of the heavy spinal dust cannons lashed out striking either UNSC golden plasma shields or URCF blue hardlight shields, draining them very quickly and shorting out systems upon hitting the hull of the ships.

On the ground the separate armies had regrouped and began to provide what little support they could give for the fighters as they had no anti-ship weapons. The URCF _Sanus_ turned and fired its MAC at another offending cruiser. Its three round bursts slammed into its shields relentlessly. The first two rounds took out the shield as the third punch through the thick armor plating, destroyed the dust storage chamber for its main cannon and exited though the bridge module, leaving the ship to simple crash into the city, taking out the old skyscraper for Merlot Industries along with it. The ships landed semi intact so some of the rouge atlas soldiers gathers equipment and began to make a break for the inner city where they could fortify and hunker down.

Curtis looked down at the holomap on the table in the center of the bridge and saw the they were winning. Steele was right in that fact these ships were not ready to be built as of yet and Meridian and foolishly gone and built them anyways. They dust cannon was a last minute add on, a modified version of the one used on Atlas Colossus mechs used to battle large type Grimm. It worked, somewhat well. On a Battlestar, its electronics hadn't been properly shielded from an EMP but the UNSC, having used nukes to generate EMP since the Interplanetary wars, were built to deal with it. Even so, the _Wichita_ was beginning to feel the strain as more beams slammed into the hull as the Dust cannons kept her shields form recharging.

He sat in his chair as damage reports flowed in.

"Main port engine offline!" The helmsman reported as he tried to shunt power form the secondary reactor to jump start it.

"Fires in starboard hanger 2!" Called out another bridge officer.

Curtis whirled around to the officer. "Evacuate and vent the oxygen in that area."

"Fire control for the MAC gun is offline!" The weapon's officer

"Then keep hammering them with the Archers!" Curtis ordered

"We lost 3 Port-side Ramparts!".

"The _Solitas_ is reporting a failure in their Archer pods. They have to re-key the system!" The comm. Officer told him.

"Dammit!" Curtis cursed. "Have them fall back and bring the _Vytal_ and _Anima_ up."

"Sir, the _Tripoli_ is asking permission to use its fusion lance." the comm. Officer reported

The fusion lance was the UNSC main line production version of the Covenant plasma lance. It used reactors fueled by deuterium and Hydrogen to fire a thin beam of nuclear plasma fire at a target. It wasn't as powerful as a Covenant Glassing beam, but then again, the glassing beam was never meant to be used as a weapon, it was for excavating Forerunner artifacts. The weapon was on par with the main plasma lance of most Covenant vessels.

Curtis grinned. "Granted." He said before turning to a holotank next to the table. "Is ours still operational?"

Solara popped up on the table, having lent a fragment of herself to aid in operating the ship. "Secondary reactors are non-operational but the main one is still chugging along." She reported. "We can fire, but recharge rates will be much longer."

"Good enough." Curtis looked out the window at the battle. "Helm bring us back around. Weapons...time to test out our newest toy."

The two UNSC ships re-oriented forward, as a beam of silver-blue electricity sparked between the prongs that made up both ships bow's similar to a plasma pistol or rifle. Both ships fired, beams of radioactive plasma lancing out at the C-class heavy cruiser. The beam form _Wichita_ entered the barrel of the dust cannon on Bellatose's ship, rupturing the dust magazines and causing a massive elemental explosion that ripped the ship asunder before it reached the reactors, causing the ship to detonate like a pair of Fury tactical nukes, the shockwave demolishing several of the crippled structures of Mountain Glenn. It was thankful the fact the ran on Dust generators and not fusion reactors, so no radiation was present. The second beam from _Tripoli_ melted the armor of another ship in an eerily similar fashion that CAS carriers would attack Marathon class Heavy cruisers, from below as the ship tried to fly over the Charon assault frigate. Battle plating melted away as its engines flickered and died, the ship crashing down, to the displeasure of the deployed ground forces which were moving away from the air battle under the cover of the combined Fighter squadrons which had just about cleared the skies of the VTOL fighters.

Stacy had met up with Allison and her Armored warthog along with most of the Cylon and URCF forces and was watching the next Atlas cruiser come crashing down. "Well, they have this battle basically in the bag." She commented, using her helmets zoom in function to watch as the cruiser frigate link nose snapped in two and it dove into the ground.

"Of course, it is." Allison commented, seemingly not worried. "Those ships vs ours? They would need A LOT more to beat Curtis, let alone the rest of our fleet."

A nearby Cylon commander didn't seemed convinced. "They shot down a battlestar easy enough."

"Ya, but that was an EMP." Allison pointed out. "The ship is still intact. A few repairs and she'll take off again and then you guys can fix her up so she can't be EMP'd as easy."

The commander though it over as Specialist Schnee came over. "Remember what Bellatose said. They are a scouting group" Winter pointed out

"Atlas started making ships...what in mid-August? It's only been a month." Allison stated. "Unless he got a hold of a bunch of Constructor and Assembler Sentinels, how many ships could he have built?"

Despite her logical assessment, the universe decided to show her how many ships Meridian had made. Multiple purple vortexes opened over the mountain range as dozens of ships began to exit them. In total, 45 ships had come to reinforce the original 12.

"You HAD to ask." Stacy quipped as she watched a Cruiser sail overhead.

Allison looked dumbfounded and shocked. "How the HELL could they have MADE that many ships so fast!?"

"They must have gotten a hold of some sentinels." Winter commented.

"Sentinels are AI controlled!" A UNSC technician pointed out. "They won't just obey someone unless they see you as their superior or operator."

"Well unless someone can explain otherwise, we got a fleet of hostile warships overhead." Winter said with finality.

Back onboard the _Wichita_ , the ship was straining under the bombardment of all the weapons. They only had 6 ships vs 50 ships. To say those odds were not the best was an understatement.

The spoke up. "Sir, I am getting a message form Lieutenant Commander Forge."

"Put her on." Curtis ordered as the video screen next to his commander chair showed a real time video of Allison on the ground. "Kinda busy, Allie."

"I noticed." She quipped back at him. "You need to jump back to New Harvest."

"What!?" Curtis looked at her in shock. "No! You and everyone else is still on the ground, plus we have disabled ships out there!"

"And if your ship is disabled what good will it do!?" Allison shot back. The two never argued much but is was often a sight to see when they did.

"Dammit Allison! You know as well as I do that, we don't willingly abandon our men!" Curtis told her firmly.

"You're not abandoning us." Allison said, in a much calmer tone. "You are falling back to regroup. We have enough ordinance down here to storm the beaches of Normandy, we can hold out."

Curtis knew she was right but hated it all the same. "I'll be back." He promised her.

"You better be." Allison joked before her tone turned serious. "Stay safe."

"You too." Curtis replied as the comm disconnected. "Helm, get us into slipspace and back to New Harvest. We are bringing backup."

The helmsman didn't need to be told twice as the ships began to move past the original 8 still flying cruisers along with the ITripoli/i and the URCF fleet. Their slipspace drive ripped open the fabric of reality and the allied fleet escaped before the Rouge Atlesian fleet. Burst of rushing air and electromagnetic radiation form the in-atmosphere jump of the ships sent out a volatile EMP wave that washed over the city; however, it was mitigated as the Frigates were not very large in terms of UNSC ships, though large enough to force all allied aircraft to the ground lest they be hit by the EMP effect of the wave.

[ _Half an hour later_ ]

Back with the battalions left behind in Mountain Glenn they watched as the ships began to head for Vale itself and many began to deploy troops outside of the city. A pair of UNSC army rangers scouting out the landings form atop the ruins of the security wall that once made up Mountain Glenn's defenses watched as the fear stirred up by the rouge fleet and the large numbers of humans drew in a large Grimm horde. One of the troopers watching the horde approached though the scope of a SRS99-AM sniper rifle, smiled a bit.

"Ha!" The sniper laughed to himself. "Those idiots are about to get screwed by the Grimm."

"Serves them right for attacking us and trying to take Vale." His spotter commented. "Once the Commander comes back with the _Maryland_ and her fleet, these assholes will be wishing they never woke up this morning."

"Damn right." The sniper said before he noticed something. "What the fuck!?"

"What is it?" His spotter asked.

"The Grimm!" The sniper replied. "They are not attacking they are...forming up with them!?"

The spotter looked though his spotting scope to see a chilling sight. Grimm, ranging from Nevermores, Beowolfs and Deathstalkers with many more species in-between were joining the ranks of the black clad Atlas troopers. A Geist Grimm was directed _purposely_ into an Arachnoid battle tank and promptly took it over before an Atlas Commander gave it orders... _which it began to follow without hesitation_.

"This can't be real." The spotter said. "The Grimm are hostile to all life! They only just ignore us, but they will still attack if we get too close!"

"Well tell these fuckers that!" The sniper said as soldiers and Grimm began to march into the Kingdom of Vale. "We have to get word back to New Harvest."

His spotter nodded as the two began to head down form their perch atop the defensive wall and back to the rest of the stranded troops and pilots.

[UNSC headquarters War Room, UNSC Headquarters, New Harvest, 1:34pm]

Curtis had just landed and stormed into the building with the captains of the other ships when he got word that this attack was worse than he originally thought.

"Someone tell me what is going on?!" Curtis ordered as he entered the war room, from which all UNSC operations on Remnant and her system could be coordinated.

Angela and Miranda came up to him. The ONI field agent had a look that said she had news he was not going to like. "While you slipped in, we got word from our teams still back at Mountain Glenn that Atlas has somehow tamed and is working _with_ the Creatures of Grimm."

"That's impossible." Curtis stated. "Unless." His eyes widen in shock and his face contorted into a look of rage. "That BITCH! This is her making a move against us!"

Angela nodded, knowing who he was taking about. "All data is indicating that this could only be the work of Salem. It seems she managed to get General Meridian on her side."

Curtis scoffed. "It probably wasn't that hard for her to do so." he commented. "But where did Meridian get so many ships? There were 50 before we slipped out. How could her get 50 ships in a month!? We can only do that with sentinels and even then, we don't crap out ships that fast."

"We don't make ships that fast because we are making different classes of ships while Meridian has focus on one class." Miranda informed him "If we took the sentinels away form _Eternity_ and other larger shipyards, we could achieve a similar ship output but only with Frigates and Destroyers. We could do Light and Heavy Cruisers if we took the sentinels form civilian shipping as well."

"So, that leaves the question... where did they get the sentinels?" Curtis asked. "We never gave any to Atlas and we built their Nevadas for them."

"It's logical to assume... Salem may be in possession of a Forerunner structure or facility with to ability to produce sentinels. This is unlikely however as the Forerunner's never found this planet." Angela stated.

Curtis had a look of determination on his features. "Then we will just have to take whatever is doing this from her and maybe drop a HAVOC or 2 on her as we leave." He said with conviction. "After we get Vale back form Meridian's controls however."

Miranda looked at him with worry. "It's not just Vale" She handed him a file with reports from all over Remnant, the times stamps showed they started just as their wargames did and because aside from the UNSC, no Kingdom besides Atlas had a standing military, Meridian's ships had taken over quite easily with the help of Salem's Grimm. "Mistral and Vacuo are under their control as well as he has attempted a coup on the Atlas government...and succeeded, though we have some reports of Atlas fleet elements that have escaped their control."

"It's like the Vichy French and Free France form WWII all over again" Curtis stated. "What about Menagerie and Mantle?"

"Mantle has deployed a city shield based on Covenant spire technology and has so far kept Meridian's forces at bay, though reports say they are looking for something under Mantle."

"Under it?" Curtis asked. "Mantle must be sitting on a artifact and didn't even know it."

"It may not be Forerunner but it seems to be quite important to him." Angela stated. "As for Menagerie, they have fended off any assault thanks to coastal Onager MAC batteries set up to fend of large deep-water Grimm, but they are asking for Naval Support."

"They'll have it." Curtis said. "They caught us off guard, let's see how Meridian's fancy new toys last when we truly fight back. We will take back Remnant, Kingdom by Kingdom, until we find him and Salem."

"And when we find them?" Miranda asked.

Curtis has a grin on his face. A very evil grin. "We will show them how cold space can be." He turned form the files to a large circular holotable in the center of the room. "Now, we must begin preparations for an attack to retake Vale and aid our troops still on the ground."

The two ONI agents nodded and began to send out orders while they began to plan out an attack.

[Atlesian Dig site, Outskirts of Mantle, Solitas, _2 hours later_ ]

General Meridian stood in a heavy winter coat as he watched Faunas slave laborers, he had borrowed from the Schnee Dust Company mines dig up the ice and snow toward his intended prize beneath the city. He took out a box of cigarettes and lit one as the below freezing air of the northern continent blew over him, taking a drag of it, as he watched the workers tear away at the ice.

Meridian turned to one of his lieutenants. "What's our current progress?"

"At this rate, we should reach the chamber by latest, tomorrow afternoon." The LT reported.

"Good." Meridian said with a small smirk. "Once we have excavated the target, I want it to be brought to Atlas immediately for study."

The lieutenant saluted and headed off as Meridian continued to watch. However, his time along was broken by the sound of crunching snow.

"Just because those new engines are silent doesn't mean you can sneak up on me in the snow." Meridian stated, not turning around as Dr Merlot came up next to him.

Merlot just smiled. "Yes, but you haven't noticed who's with me."

Meridian had a slight twinge of fear but managed to suppress it. "It's unlike you to come out for such events, My lady."

Salem just smiled as she came up next to the General looking down at the excavation site. "I don't recall you being in charge of my travel schedule."

Meridian took another drag. "Just pointing out a fact." He said before looking over at her, still in her normal black dress. "Are you OK like that or do you wish for a coat?"

"I haven't felt the cold in years." Salem said. "I am quite fine."

"Very well." Meridian simply stated.

Salem watched the excavation and an old part of her human self, her curiosity, got the best of her. "Might I ask what it is you are so fervently digging up?" She asked Meridian who began to smile. He took out an old file form his jacket and handed it to her. Salem's curiosity peaked at the general's somewhat nonchalant attitude to her presence making her wonder if there was more than tobacco in his cigarette. Opening the file, she found it was form before the Great War and was form the old Mantle Military. What it showed surprised her.

"Are these images real?" She asked.

"Yes, ma'am, they are." Meridian replied. "There is a UNSC ship down there."

Merlot could help be look at the images himself. "UNSC _Remnants of the Past_ CFV-83?" He asked, looking at the black and white images of the ship. "How it get under Mantle?"

"I don't know, and frankly I don't care." Meridian stated. "All I know is a 2-kilometer-long starship is sitting down there and Mantle has made sure its engines still run. Now, I plan on taking it."

"This file says it unarmed." Salem stated.

Meridian waved her off. "It has the armor and FTL drive and that's all I need. I can give it weapons."

Salem fixed Meridian a glare. "This had better not be a waste of time, _Lord General_." She warned him. "I have seldom little patience for failure after such an operation."

Meridian looked fearful but his overconfidence pushed through. "Relax my lady." He reassured her. "We already have control of the Kingdoms! The UNSC will fall to our guns."

Salem turned to leave back to the bullhead that brought her here. She turned back before boarding it. "I hope for your sake you are correct in that assessment." She stated coldly. "Because if the UNSC doesn't kill you... _ **I will**_."

Meridian looked back as the ship took off with a smirk. "We will see about that, _Witch_."

* * *

 **Holy crap I write slow!**

 **Dear stupid Meridian is looking for a fight. He better be careful what he wishes for.  
And for everyone who kept asking, You now know what the ship under Mantle is gonna be used for now.**

 **This isn't one of my better chapters, but I feel she is OK for now**

 **Halo is owned Bungie by 343 Industries**  
 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**  
 **Starcraft is owned by Blizzard Entertainment**  
 **Battlestar Galactica is owned by Syfy**  
 **Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**  
 **All other references or tidbit to other series belong to their respective owners.**  
 **OC character, Curtis Fletcher is created and owned by SBB-67Montana ,my good friend.**


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